


Stuff After Kissing

by Dinnyster



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bending (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), F/M, First Time, M/M, Practice Kissing, Training
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:40:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 23,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29154447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dinnyster/pseuds/Dinnyster
Summary: Predominately M/M (Aang/Zuko)Zuko gains the trust of the group but starts having weird dreams about his training mate. Katara's got mixed feelings for Zuko and Aang. And Aang decides he wants to learn more from Zuko than just firebending.Slow moving at first, but progressively sweat inducing.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Aang/Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 39





	1. Trust and A Dream

When the gang had finally accepted Zuko in, everyone still had their doubts about him. Sokka, probably had the least doubts. Sokka could easily accept someone, especially after forgiveness. Zuko had apologized maybe twice over about a four month span, but Sokka could accept it. Aang was the second to most accepting. He knew that there was good in Zuko’s heart and that he could help him with firebending. Katara was next, she was still hurt by things that the Fire prince had done in the past, but she knew that this was a different boy that she was accepting into her sacred circle. And finally, there was Toph. She still called Zuko “Sparkie” and she wasn’t going to stop, probably, ever.

She was a tough girl that couldn’t forget the pain of the fire nation. She knew that Zuko hadn’t been the leader of destruction, but sometimes she couldn’t help feeling hurt and upset. She didn’t show this to him though, instead she showed him a smile that read if you end up hurting us, I will destroy you. And he got the message loud and clear through the stupid, harmless, well most-of-the-time-harmless pranks Toph pulled on him and the annoying and a-little-belittling nickname. But for the most part, Zuko was just part of the gang.

Since Zuko joined the group, Katara had been feeling weird about him. Not bad...or good. But something she hadn’t really felt before. He was the first boy in her life that wasn’t her brother or a biological twelve-year-old that was destined to save the world. He was just a boy, around her age, with nice eyes, and nice muscles. Sometimes she wondered if he felt the same way...only sometimes. But other times she was just happy to have a nice group, a family.

Sokka, the least doubtful, kind of looked up to him. Zuko was strong, cool, tall, and he had a badass scar that Sokka had been wondering about since the day he first met him. His girlfriend had to tell him that it was impolite to stare, because Suki noticed that Sokka couldn’t stop looking. Eventually, Sokka got over it, realizing that a scar that big wasn’t a simple, light hearted story. It would probably be just as painful to tell for Zuko as it was the day it happened. So he didn’t ask and he silently wondered as he and Suki watched Katara admiring the cool, badass ex-prince.

Toph, couldn’t see Zuko, but she knew he was tall and handsome and she knew he had a scar because Katara insisted on girl talk after a month of Zuko being with them. She knew how Katara felt about him, but she didn’t have any deep interest in him. She paid attention to detail though, always with a little hint of distrust in Zuko, wondering when he was going to turn around and attack them again, after gaining most of their trust.

Aang decided that he trusted Zuko pretty much since he had come along. His apology seemed sincere enough, and for Zuko to be able to put his pride aside and say sorry, Aang thought, had to be worthy of trust. Not to mention he needed Zuko’s guidance in learning to fire bend and that was something Zuko did very well. Aang let time tell whether Zuko could be trusted, he had taken him on before, and if Zuko were to turn on him and the others, they could definitely take him, not that he had thought much about that.

And time did tell. Aang and Zuko practiced day after day until Aang was up to or above average skill of firebending. Zuko had his own feelings and ideas about the gang. He noticed Sokka and Katara’s blind trust in Aang. He noticed Toph’s skepticism of himself and her protective quality as well. He saw how everyone interacted and got along and he knew he would never be that close to them, but he did appreciate that they had all accepted him for the most part. He didn’t miss the negative environment of the fire nation, or his sister’s overbearing control over his life. He didn’t miss his father, or anyone else except Iroh, but he was glad he had found a happy group that he could contribute to and gain from.

There was one thing...though he couldn’t put a finger on it. Zuko noticed only a few weeks into his intrusion of the gang that the powerful force and the positive energy that kept the gang pushing forward was definitely Aang. He was always so happy and ready to do and learn. At first it annoyed Zuko. It made him want to be more negative and annoying to Aang, but once he realized that that wasn’t going to work, he had to give in. He gave up and let the positive energy affect him as well. Before he knew it he was also enjoying hanging around with the gang, and it was most likely because of Aang’s happiness. But it also had to do with Sokka’s stupid jokes, Katara’s warm and motherly care, and Toph’s blunt but comical outlook. He spent most of these days practicing bending, with Aang, though, and that’s probably why he started to get some confusing thoughts. And the first time he had one was in his dream.

After a long day, early in his training with Aang, he found himself drifting off to sleep. He had finished dinner with the gang and went to his room, not with the intention of immediate sleep. He had sat down and laid back to reflect on the day. He was thinking about how well Aang was already doing. He still had a ways to go, but he was trying so hard to do his best and he showed so much joy in everything he did. As previously mentioned, this got on Zuko’s nerves quite a lot in the beginning. Lying in his bed, Zuko felt a deep annoyance with Aang’s big smiling face on his mind. And with that, he fell asleep. So of course after a hard, physically and mentally exhausting day of firebending, he found himself dreaming of fire. It was hot. He was hot, sweating, but he wasn’t in pain or discomfort, instead he was enjoying the sweat. This sweatiness came with a familiar feeling of need. His dream world consisted of his bedroom, similar to the one he was in at the moment, but it was dark and he wasn’t alone. There was someone else’s skin, sweating against his, arms tangled together and wet hair against a cool forehead. His chest was light and free of contact, but his stomach was tight and below his waist it was even tighter and hotter and harder.

He sighed in his dream, and maybe outside his sleep as well. He felt good, but he wanted — no — needed it to go on and be completed. His tired body needed this fulfilment. “Like this?” the other person said, it was kind of a whisper because he or she was so close to Zuko. But the voice was unmistakingly familiar. Was it Mai? No, this voice was higher, more juvenile. It was a voice of discovery, not of droning boredom like Mai’s would have been. His ex-girlfriend wouldn’t show such emotion, not even in his dreams. Not that he disliked that matter-of-fact manner of speaking. No, he would have probably enjoyed that voice better than this one. Because it was a more appropriate voice to be dreaming about. She was his girlfriend after all. But No, this wasn’t someone he had thought about, like this, before. This girl was different. He forgot to figure out who it was, because she was kissing him now. But had he woken up and remembered all of this dream, he still couldn’t tell you how the kiss felt. It wasn’t something he could put into words. It kind of felt like nothing, or nothing he had ever felt before. And as she parted her lips, she also moved her hips in a way that pushed him over the edge.

He woke up from this dream, a wet dream, sweating and in the pitch black. Someone had been in his room, they turned his light off while he was sleeping. To him it had felt like ten minutes, but he had been asleep for over two hours. He undressed a bit and settled back into sleep, this time with intentions of a sound dreamless sleep. He was blessed with just that.

The next morning he showered, forgetting a lot of his dream, but not his reaction or that voice. It actually repeated in his head throughout his shower. He couldn’t figure out why it was so familiar, yet he couldn’t put a face to it. He thought about it after his shower too, at breakfast with the gang.

“How’d you sleep?” Sokka asked. And he remembered that one of them had to have been in his room the night before. He couldn’t imagine what they had seen or heard. He had a small hope that it had been Sokka since he was asking.

“I fell right asleep,” he replied, hoping someone would come out and say it.

“Me too,” Toph said.

“So did I!” Zuko froze when Aang said that. A chill ran through his body. He tried to ignore it, but he remembered his dream again. That voice. “I think yesterday was the most tired I’ve been. But I’m getting pretty good at firebending, huh?” Aang looked at Zuko.

“Are you okay?” Suki questioned, “Zuko?”

Everyone was looking at him now. “I’m fine,” he replied and continued to eat as much as he could without thinking back to the night before.

“Still tired?” Katara questioned.

He nodded and kept his eyes on the table. “I’m gonna go for a walk.” And he did.


	2. That's Cheating

Zuko didn’t want to admit it, but he knew something was wrong with that dream, so he tried to stay out of his head at training for a while. For the most part, it worked. He figured it must have just been a fluke. The Avatar’s voice could be kind of feminine, since he was still young. And it was dark, just because it was Aang’s voice, it definitely still could have been a woman’s body. He just knew he wasn’t dreaming of Mai’s body, she was taller than whoever it was. He might have just made up some fantasy body in his head.

Zuko stopped thinking about this stuff after a few days. And he pretty much went back to normal. Until another few weeks had passed and Aang was getting good enough to duel with Zuko. But Zuko wasn’t going to suggest it.

“Alright,” Aang said, “I’m ready to test my skills.”

“What?” Sokka questioned, he had been watching, or falling asleep watching, but when he heard this he perked up, “Oh yeah!” he cheered.

“Against Zuko?” Toph questioned.

Aang looked at Zuko and raised his eyebrows, “Can I? Do you think I’m ready?”

“I don’t know,” Zuko hesitated, “Maybe we should just practice a little more.”

“No!” he whined, “I’m ready! I’m ready!”

Zuko furrowed his brow, “Uh...okay,” He gave in.

“Yay!” Aang cheered and leaned forward with his hand out to shake Zuko’s. Zuko shook his hand, “Let’s go!” His excitement was nerve-wracking for Zuko, but he didn’t let it get to him. Otherwise, he would probably end up hurting the airbender. 

Aang began strong, but Zuko was able to calculate all of his moves. He had shown him everything he knew, so of course he could take all of the blows and could think quick in deflecting. They were off to a safe and maybe even fun start, but Aang was feeling confident and he pulled out all the stops, as he would obviously have to go against one of the strongest firebenders alive. But as Zuko dodged and attacked, Aang began to feel discouraged. He uncharacteristically made the split decision to play dirty. He threw a hand in the air and dropped it down sending Zuko to the ground with a strong burst of air.

“Aang!” Toph yelled, somehow knowing Aang had done what he did, “That’s cheating!”

Sokka laughed, “He’s gonna kill you!”

Zuko was on his butt looking at Aang with a dark glare. He was pissed. He stood up and swiped his hands together, wiping the dirt off his palms.

Aang was a little afraid as Zuko jumped up, doing a move he didn’t recognize. Zuko hadn’t used this move since he fought against Azula years before. He had gotten in a lot of trouble for using it then and he would be in deep shit for using it here as well.

“Oh no!” Sokka yelled, “He’s gonna kill you!” he said again, this time fearing that it might be true.

“Zuko, Don’t—,” Katara yelled, too late.

The fire had shot from his hands faster than Aang had seen before. It was aimed right at him. Luckily Aang was able to bend some air in front of his face, but even with that and Katara’s sheet of ice that she created in the last possible second, the blow knocked Aang into and through some trees behind him. Katara and Sokka ran to him on the ground. He seemed to be knocked unconscious, but only for a few seconds.

“Aang, are you okay?” Katara cried holding him.

Zuko was ready to give up and walk away, knowing he would be scolded and probably sent packing. He walked away, through the trees. He knew he had made a mistake, and he didn’t need to be told by the gang. When they couldn’t see him anymore, he started to run with no idea where he would go.

Zuko kept going until it was dark and he was all alone with his thoughts. He was worried and hungry. He didn’t have anyone else, and no one else would ever trust him like the gang had come to do. Everyone knew who he was and what his reputation was like. He couldn’t run forever and he couldn’t stop thinking about those guys. Part of him wanted to go back and the other part would rather die than go back. But— 

“There you are!” It was Toph, “Where do you think you’re going, Sparkie?”

“What are you doing here?” He asked, ignoring the worst nickname he had ever been given, yeah, it was even worse than Sifu Hotman, “How did you find me?”

Toph laughed a little, “Well there are only so many places to hide on an island where everyone lives in town,” she said and they walked together, “Not to mention your track is still hot, you’re not planning on burning this forest down are you?”

He ignored this again. He was mad, but not mad enough to destroy an entire forest.

“He’s fine, you know,” She said, “In fact, he got right back up to keep dueling.”

This surprised Zuko, but he didn’t show it on his face, not that Toph would know anyway. He was relieved, but that didn’t change the fact that his intention with that move was to damage Aang, his student at the moment.

“And he definitely deserved that,” she added, “He was totally cheating.”

“I could have killed him,” Zuko replied.

“It’ll probably take a lot more than that to kill the Avatar,” Toph said. She was right. Just because he almost killed Azula that way, doesn’t mean Aang would be the same. “And I think Katara’s the only one mad about it.”

That didn’t surprise him. Katara may have trusted Zuko to a certain degree, but she wasn’t the type to let her guard down completely and now that he had done this, he had probably painted a target on his back. Katara didn’t play when it came to Aang or any of her family.

“Let’s go back,” Toph said. And he went along with her just for the sake of it. He was tired and exhausted from walking and wanted nothing more than to lie down in his bed, alone, peacefully, and on good terms with the only people he actually liked. When they got back to town, dinner was over, but Zuko and Toph sat down to eat. They ate in silence and they said their good nights and went off to their own rooms.

Before Zuko could drift off into his much needed sleep, there was a knock at his door. He panicked, worried it was Katara, there to tell him to pack his things. He didn’t say anything and then the door opened a little and a face peeked in. “Toph told me you were back,” It was Aang. “Can I come in?”


	3. Don't Say Sorry

He still didn’t say anything.

“Okay, I’m coming in,” he said with a smile you could hear in his voice. He walked in and closed the door. “Hey, where did you go?” he asked sitting on the bed.

Zuko looked at him, wondering how he could be so chipper. When he finally took a good look at the airbender’s face, he saw the big scratch he had across his chin. Zuko winced.

“Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t even hurt that much,” he said, “Plus, I got what was coming. I shouldn’t have used my airbending, it wasn’t fair.”

“I’m sorry,” Zuko said.

“Sorry for what? You played fair,” he said, “And you beat me, so I’m glad you came back because I obviously need to work on my firebending some more.” he still had it in him to smile and Zuko wondered how he could do that so easily at the guy that had done something like that to his face out of anger. “You gotta teach me that move, though.”

Zuko nodded.

“And beating me at firebending doesn’t mean anything,” he said in a playful tone, “I’d kick your butt if we battled without bending.”

Zuko wasn’t necessarily offended by this, but he knew it was definitely untrue. And he decided to let go of the negative attitude and join in with Aang’s juvenile and positive one. “No way,” he replied, “I’ve seen you without a shirt, you’re like a twig.”

“What I lack in muscle, I make up for in determination,” Aang replied and laughed.

“Well I’ve got both the muscle and determination,” Zuko retorted.

Aang nodded in faux defeat, “I guess you’re right, not to mention all of that pent up anger.”

Zuko didn’t know how to respond, so he let it bounce right off of him, like he hadn’t heard it and he shook his head, “I really am sorry,” he said again.

“Don’t be sorry. Stop being so depressing, Zuko!” Aang said and turned to him “I know something that I’d beat you at. And it’s just what you need.”

“What?” Zuko questioned, wondering what Aang could possibly be talking about. But before he could think of anything Aang was on top of him, attempting to tickle him. Oh, a tickle fight, it had been so long since Zuko had even thought about something so simple and lighthearted that he forgot that he could even be tickled. “Aang, stop,” he groaned as the boy's hands went for his sides. He was wearing enough clothes to resist the urge to laugh at that kind of tickling.

“Come on, everyone is ticklish,” Aang laughed, “And you’re not even fighting back.”

Zuko tried to relax and let Aang tickle him, and he did have a slight urge to laugh. He sighed and laughed a little. “Stop,” he said unconvincingly.

“I’m definitely going to win if you don’t even try,” Aang said, really hitting a nerve in Zuko. How did Aang know him so well? Zuko had to win, or put up a good fight at least.

Zuko sat up a little straighter and went for Aang in the same spot the boy had been trying on him, but Aang’s clothing was thinner and he was much more ticklish than the older boy. Aang laughed and tried even harder with Zuko, jumping on him and going for his armpits this time. Zuko was more ticklish here and he moved quickly to guard that area. He was laughing for real now.

“Wow,” Aang said, stopping for a second, “I’ve never heard you laugh. Let alone seen you smile.”

Zuko looked down, feeling a blush on his face. He hadn’t smiled in a long time.

“Ha,” Aang laughed, “You give up? Just when I found your weak spot!” He continued to tickle him.

Aang hadn’t found his most ticklish spot yet, but Zuko wasn’t going to tell him that, and he certainly wasn’t going to give up. He went back to tickling Aang, this time pushing the boy down to the bed and letting his hands move up his sides. He was really small, twig-like was an accurate description. Aang started laughing so hard he was crying and losing his breath.

“Okay, Okay!” Aang yelled, “Timeout!”

“Timeout?” Zuko questioned, “That’s quitters talk!”

Aang put his arms down and hands up, surrendering, “Fine!” he said, wiping his eye, Zuko grabbed his wrists so he couldn’t tickle him anymore. “Fine, you win this one too.” Zuko let go of the boy's hands but continued to look down at him, both of them breathing heavily. “Tricked you!” Aang yelled and reached up to tickle Zuko’s neck. Aang knew he had found his weakest most ticklish spot. Zuko stiffened and pulled away but Aang followed him, flopping onto the top side of the bed now. He didn’t let Zuko get free. Zuko went for Aang’s wrists again, but he couldn’t get a good grip and he was laughing to tears just as Aang had moments before. Aang climbed on top of the firebender and didn’t let up until he was surrendering himself.

“Alright!” he choked out, tears falling down the side of his face into his hair. He put his hands up to grab Aang by the forearms. “You win.”

Aang smiled. “Yay!” he cheered and relaxed in Zuko’s arms. Zuko loosened his grip on his arms and Aang kind of fell forward. “Now it’s tied up,” He said quietly. He was out of breath, he cleared his throat, “We’ll really have to see who can win without bending.”

“You should just give me that point, you don’t want to fight me hand to hand,” Zuko said, still holding Aang up, just now realizing that the boy was straddling him in a pretty provocative way. If Zuko was in the mood, this definitely would turn him on. “I’m holding you here right now.” Aang hadn’t noticed that, but he did notice the compromising position he was in. But he hadn’t been well versed in anything of that sort so he continued to play. He knew it only worked like that between a girl and a boy, so this was perfectly fine. To him it was just play. He tried to get out of Zuko’s grip that recently re-tightened around his arms. Zuko must have been pretty strong, because Aang didn’t budge, or at least his arms didn’t.

“This doesn’t count,” Aang said, “I’m exhausted and injured.”

Zuko loosened his grip once again, almost to nothing. His hands were still around his arms though, lightly touching. “Okay,” Zuko said, feeling guilty again, “You can go now,” he said and turned to look the other way. He realized he was hot when he felt himself cooling off now.

“Don’t sulk,” Aang smiled, “I’m just going to use that as an excuse for a few days.” He climbed off of Zuko and sat next to him. “But just to get out of chores and stuff. I’ll be ready to learn that move of yours tomorrow,” he got up and went for the door, “Good night.”

He hummed in response and waited for Aang to leave before sitting up and trying to lose the erection.


	4. Katara's Confession

Zuko didn’t teach Aang that move the next day. But he did plan to teach him when he was ready. He continued to teach Aang but he started to worry that the dream he had had meant something more than he originally thought. He didn’t have much of a chance to think about that though, because Katara was determined to hold Aang’s injury over Zuko’s head for as long as she could. She guilted him into doing dishes and going shopping and doing all sorts of things, she had also guilted him into spending time with her. He didn’t mind. She was nice enough, and pretty, and really thoughtful. And after a month of that, after Aang’s scratch had basically faded to nothing, she eased up on him.

Zuko and Aang had returned to normal, or whatever normal was for them. Aang didn't have to apologize for Katara’s actions anymore and Zuko didn’t have to feel bad about lashing out before. And just when things were getting better for Zuko, he had to go and have one of those dreams again. It had been a relatively peaceful day within the gang. Zuko and Aang had gone out near the water to practice fire bending in the humid and wet air. And when they came back they enjoyed dinner with the group and they all went to the festival being held deeper in town. Zuko was enjoying his time until Sokka and Suki went off on their own, and Katara decided her and Toph would go looking for boys, leaving Aang and Zuko alone.

“You know, you think I’d get sick of hanging with you all day,” Aang laughed and elbowed him in the side, “But you’re just a barrel of fun.” He was being sarcastic.

“Very funny,” Zuko said, not bothering to smile.

“What? Do you not like festivals or something,” Aang questioned.

Zuko furrowed his brow, “I don’t really have an opinion on them,” Zuko replied.

Aang nodded, “Hmm. Well, let’s go get you one then,” he joked and pulled Zuko by the arm towards a food stall. They got a snack and spent another hour there before they headed back. Sokka and Suki were already back in Sokka’s room, obviously having a good time. And Toph and Katara were right behind Aang and Zuko, back to their rooms minutes after returning. A group goodnight from them all and it was lights out.

Zuko was in a better mood after he and Aang had gotten some food and talked more about training. He was ready for bed though. He turned the lights off and went right to sleep. "Why can’t I see it?" it was Toph. She was looking at Zuko, but she obviously couldn’t see his scar because she was blind. “I don’t know,” Sokka said, “But it’s big and like pinkish-purple and it makes his eye close a little more than the right one.” “Well, it sounds gross,” Toph stated and backed off with Sokka following. It was just Zuko now, looking up at the sky. He was lying back on some grass with his hands up behind his head. “What do you see?” Aang’s voice questioned loudly, it made Zuko jump as the airbender’s face came into view above his head. “I like clouds.” he added and lied down next to him in the same position. “Can I ask you something?” Aang questioned, “Yeah, what?” Zuko said. “Do you want to hurt me?” Aang asked, “No,” Zuko replied immediately. “Well do you like me then?” Zuko hesitated for this one, “We’re friends,” he said and Aang left, just as quickly as he appeared. Zuko felt upset but he wasn’t sure why. He was then in his room again. Back to that night when Aang was tickling him and they had truly been having fun, but this time, Aang didn’t tickle him, instead he leaned in and kissed Zuko on the lips. And Zuko liked it. He liked it so much that in the next second they were both kissing so passionately that Zuko had to stop because he was uncomfortably horny. But Aang didn’t let him stop so easily, instead Aang urged him to continue and it moved closer and closer towards Zuko’s climax, but it ended with someone barging in the door.

Zuko awoke to someone actually barging in the door. “Zuko!” It was Katara, “I know it’s late...or early, but I can’t sleep.”

“Katara?” he questioned groggily.

“Yes,” she said, “I was thinking and I think I really like you. Like really really like you. And I needed to tell you or I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it.”

“Well, if you like me you sure have an odd way of showing it,” he said and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He was still a little hard and seeing Katara in her thin sleep gown and robe was only making matters worse.

“No, I...I know,” she said, “It’s just that I know I shouldn’t like you, but I can’t help it.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Zuko replied.

She looked like she knew already. She knew she couldn’t expect anything from him. “I know you like someone else.”

He furrowed his brow, “I don’t—,”

She looked up at him, “I came in here the other night to talk to you. But you were already asleep and you were dreaming, I think. But when I realized, I turned your light off and left.” He was nervous, but a little relieved that it was Katara and she wasn’t quick to judge him over it. “I just thought it might have been someone in the group…”

“Uh...I don’t remember,” He lied. He most definitely did remember, because he had just had another dream that same person.

She nodded, “Well...I just wanted to tell you,” she said, “To see if anything was there.”

He wasn’t opposed to trying anything. Katara was beautiful and they had spent a great deal of time together in the past month. “I like you,” he said, “I didn’t really look at you in that way but…”

She moved closer to him and he leaned in towards her, as she did towards him. Just before their lips could meet, Zuko’s mind went to Aang, his face and smile and lips. Katara’s lips were soft and warm. He didn’t mind kissing her, but it wasn’t special. She seemed to like it a bit more than Zuko, she moved in closer putting her hand on his arm. He turned his head in response and they deepened the kiss. Katara took Zuko’s hand and placed it at her waist, moving it towards the split in her robe. Zuko knew what she wanted and his body wanted it just as much so he went for it. He pulled Katara closer to his lap and pulled her robe off. Her dress was so thin, he could feel every detail of her body as she climbed on top of him. Their bodies pressed together and everything happened so smoothly, fluid, they couldn’t stop. And once it had all happened, Zuko wasn’t completely sure that it wasn’t Katara that he liked after it all.

Zuko woke up before Katara. She was in her gown, but her robe was at the end of the bed along with her underwear. She woke up to Zuko flexing his arm that was numb under her head. She was facing his wall and her first thoughts were her wondering where she was. When she realized where she was and what she had done, she shot up out of the bed, but then she remembered everything. The night before wasn’t a bad memory. It really just made her like Zuko even more. She really liked Zuko.  
Zuko liked Katara.


	5. Toph's Big Mouth

Although they kept it a secret from the rest of the gang, Zuko and Katara spent many more nights together in Zuko’s room where their bond grew immensely. Zuko had just about forgotten his confusing feelings for Aang. He would train with the Avatar through the day and meet with Katara after lights out, he didn’t have a chance to dream about anyone else, or so he thought.

One night after another long day of training, Katara offered to rub Zuko’s back, and he accepted gratefully. He fell asleep to Katara’s nails gliding over his lower back. He was lying across her lap and in much comfort. But although it was Katara’s scent and smooth skin on his mind, his subconscious mind was back on the battlefield with a smaller, paler, thinner but just as desirable body in front of him. “I know your weak spot,” the young Avatar smiled. He walked towards the firebender, looking up as he stood right in front of him. Aang’s hands were lightly placed on Zuko’s chest, slowly inching towards his shoulders. Zuko waited a few seconds, positive there would be a discouraging statement, a protest from the boy, but when nothing came, he reached down and pulled him into a hug, lifting him off of the ground.

“Zuko!” Aang moaned and their lips met, softly, and then roughly. And Zuko carried Aang to the bench outside of his bedroom. Where he laid the Avatar down and admired him.

“Zuko!” It wasn't Aang this time. It was Katara, “Zuko, what are you dreaming about that's making you like this.” He knew what she wanted to hear, and for the sake of his boner, he said it.

“Obviously you.” A lie. He ended up having to lie like this quite a lot to her. Because after this, it was rare for him not to dream of Aang. It made training harder, and he had to take more breaks because having Aang by his side or even opposite him was turning him on.

..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~..

“What's with you, Sparkie?” Toph questioned him, stopping him on his way back to his room for a breather. “Exhausted?”

“I'm fine,” he was in a hurry to get away from her, she was too intuitive for him to get away with anything.

“I see what's going on here,” Toph stated. Shit. She already knew. “How long have you had the hots for Twinkle Toes?” She asked. Shit. She really did know.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Come on, you're sweating so much, you could drown, and —,”

“It's not Aang,” he lied, hoping he could throw her off, “I'm not gay.”

“Oh, Sokka?” She asked.

“Are you stupid?” He was angry, “I said I'm not gay!”

“...Suki?” She questioned, when all she got was a huff in response she moved on, “wait...me?”

“Katara!” He yelled at her.

She laughed, “Wow, really?” she asked, “Yikes. You should let that one go. She’s not too fond of you.” This surprised him. Maybe she wasn’t as intuitive as he had first thought. “She’s definitely got a thing for Aang.”

“You think?” He asked.

“Oh, I know it actually,” She said, smiling as if she were proud of herself for being so sure. “I heard her talking to him the other night. I think they kissed, too.” That kind of got to Zuko, only a little bit.

“What were they talking about?”

“Well, you didn’t hear it from me, but Twinkle Toes had his first kiss years ago, back before he was frozen, and Katara was wondering if he remembered it and somehow it turned to Katara being his first real kiss, you know, like not just a peck,” She explained it all and Zuko was not pleased. He didn’t understand why he was so upset, but Toph wandered off and left him to think on it all. When he returned to the battlegrounds where Aang and Katara were so conveniently pushing each other around, smiling, blushing and teasing about, he put on a blank face, knowing Toph would feel the tension. He played the part of the unknowing, apathetic guy here solely to train the Avatar and be left aside after all.


	6. Intention

As he and Toph approached the courtyard again, they both spotted Aang and Katara.

“Zuko, watch this!” The Avatar called to him and him and Katara conjured up a twister of water that continued to build higher as they both looked up to it. Katara’s eyes were glowing bright as she glanced over to Zuko. When she saw the look that he had been trying not to show, she lost focus and her smile faded. The spinning mix of air and water flew out in all directions and drenched everyone around, this included Toph, Sokka, Aang, Katara, Mo-mo and of course Zuko.

“Oops,” Aang said, laughing, “Sorry,” it wasn’t his fault, yet he took the blame, searching Katara’s face. But her eyes were on Zuko. She was tempted to ask him what was wrong, but she knew her place here. No one could know about her feelings for Zuko. So her expression went to a worried smile.

“Sorry,” she said and ran her hand through her hair, “I got lost in thought!” she looked back to Aang.

Aang smiled a bigger smile, “It’s fine, it’s a hot day anyway,” he laughed and wiped some water out of his eyes. “Let’s go Zuko, you think we could make a fire twister!” he was somehow still so excited even after all of the hard work they had already put into the day.

“Hey watch it, Aang,” Sokka said, “It’s one thing to be soaked in water, fire everywhere is a whole different story!”

“He’s right,” Zuko said in his low, uninterested voice. He was thoroughly bothered, “Let’s just stick to mastering the basics.”

Aang smiled and nodded, “Alright,” he whined and changed his stance to a more serious one. “Come on!” They went back to practicing some of the moves Aang had been struggling with. Zuko couldn’t lie, though, Aang was improving very quickly. After training had run overtime, due to Aang’s need to perfect one of his moves, the two of them went to eat.

“So,” Aang said, “What do you think of Katara?” he asked.

Zuko was quick to be defensive but he caught himself so not to sound that way, “What about her?” he questioned.

“Isn’t she...pretty?” he asked.

“Does the Avatar have a crush?” Zuko said, it was uncharacteristically teasing the way he said it, but it was intended to throw the other off his trail. Aang probably had no inkling as to what Zuko and Katara's relationship was like. 

Aang noticed and he smiled, “I don’t know, I guess so. Do you think she could like me?”

Zuko shrugged and looked down at his food, “She’s hard to read.”

Aang nodded.

“But she definitely likes you, I don’t know if it’s in that way, though,” Zuko said and peeked up at him from his food.

Aang was blushing, “She kissed me,” he said, obviously trying to be calm about it.

Zuko nodded, “Yeah?” he questioned, suddenly the most uninterested he had ever been. He wanted dinner to be over as soon as possible.

“Yeah,” Aang was very excited to share. “Are you still with Mai?” He asked.

Zuko set his jaw at the mention of her name.

“Nevermind,” Aang said, noticing how uncomfortable Zuko seemed to get. “I only ask about it because...I’m sure you know...I don’t know anything about that stuff.”

Zuko raised an eyebrow and looked away from the table, “Well, I...I can teach you firebending, but that stuff…”

“No,” he said, “I know,” Aang laughed nervously. “I would go to Sokka, but...he has a big mouth. And...he’s the older brother, you know. It’s weird.”

Zuko nodded, hoping that would be the end of it.

“And, you seem like you’d be good with that kind of stuff,” Aang tiptoed around it some more.

Zuko furrowed his brow, “What makes you think that?” He dared to look up and the two of them were both blushing. He looked back down.

Aang laughed nervously again, “Oh, well, uh…” he hesitated, “I mean, you’re good looking...and cool. And you’ve had a girlfriend for a while. You did that stuff right?”

“That stuff?” Zuko questioned, feeling he had gained the upper hand in the conversation as usual. After all, he knew a lot about that stuff, he was doing that stuff basically every night with Katara.

“Like, the stuff that comes after kissing,” Aang said, pretty embarrassed.

“What do you want me to tell you?” Zuko said, knowing where he, himself, wanted things to go. He sat back, taking a nice bite of his food. He gave Aang a good long gaze. Aang struggled to keep eye contact without his face feeling on fire.

“Um...if you’re comfortable with it...could you...tell me all about — well everything?” he asked. “Maybe?”

Zuko smiled. This was going the direction he liked, but it wasn’t going to be easy. “I guess that’d be okay. As a favor.”

“Really!” Aang was way too excited, but it made Zuko more excited too. Not in the same way, though. Not the same way at all. “When can we start?” he asked.

“We can start now,” Zuko said and watched the look on Aang’s face grow increasingly surprised.

Aang nodded, “Okay!” He finished his food, “We can go out to the woods and talk so no one will hear us!”

Zuko nodded, “Good idea!” he was like a predator having his prey play right into his trap. But he had to reverse that thought, realizing the reality of the situation. He couldn’t actually do anything to...or with the Avatar. Not anything he wanted to do. But he could imagine it, and he could get a look into the other boy’s mind.


	7. For Education's Sake

So after they both finished their food, they took a walk into the woods. Once they were far enough in, Aang started, “So...I don’t even know how to kiss,” he admitted, with a hand on the back of his neck. He looked up at Zuko, who had been lighting small sticks aflame to provide a small amount of light.

“Well, I don’t know if I can help you there,” Zuko replied, “You kind of just know, or you don’t really. And, it gets better with time.”

“But...like Katara knew what she was doing,” he said, “I don’t want to seem like I don’t. Do you think she’s been with that many guys?”

He shrugged, “I don’t think so, but I wouldn’t know. Don’t you think she knows that you haven’t been with anyone?” Zuko asked.

Aang cocked his head to the side, “I didn’t think about that,” he seemed a little worried, “That’s a good point.”

“It’s probably easier that way,” Zuko said, He was started to doubt that tonight would lead to much besides a will they/won't they chat regarding Aang and Katara, “She can show you everything.” 

“No!” Aang exclaimed, “That’s...that’d be embarrassing!”

Zuko shrugged again, “That’s usually how you learn anyway, through experience.”

Aang nodded, “But...I don’t want to seem like I know nothing!”

Zuko could get behind that, he understood. He didn’t want to seem eager, but he was ready to teach the Avatar more than firebending. And a small part of Zuko, the part he was desperately trying to hold back, wanted to show him first hand how everything worked. Not that he had much experience, with guys at least. He knew this conversation would lead to a good amount of pent up sexual energy on his part. Luckily Katara would be waiting for him in his room later that night.

“Well kissing isn’t something you can just learn by talking about it, you have to do it,” Zuko explained, “I won’t be able to tell you without showing you. If you know what I mean.”

“Well if I can’t learn kissing, then there’s no point in going past it,” Aang was upset.

“Are you saying we walked out here for nothing?” Zuko asked him, the lights growing a little with Zuko’s inflection, it gave him away for once. Aang may not have picked up on it, because of his heightened nerves, but probably anyone else would have been able to tell that Zuko's emotions were showing, at least a little bit.

Aang looked away, “No,” he said, “Just tell me about the other stuff then.”

Zuko slowly nodded, “Okay, well, it all does sort of branch off from kissing. Like making out, you know.”

“No, I don’t know,” Aang replied, “For the sake of my intimate education, assume I know nothing!”

Zuko furrowed his brow, “This probably isn’t going to work out,” Zuko said and turned to go the other way.

“No, wait!” Aang said and grabbed his arm, “Listen,” he began. He used his bending to blow out all the lighting. The two of them had no visibility as their eyes adjusted. “How about we try it like this. We can’t see each other, so it’s like...let’s pretend that — again, for the sake of my education — We’re, you know.”

If Aang could see Zuko’s face right then, he definitely would know this was a bad idea. Zuko was so into this idea he wondered if he was dreaming again. He couldn’t speak.

“Is that okay?” Aang asked, he still had Zuko’s arm so he knew he was still there. “Zuko?”

Zuko almost couldn’t hold himself back, but he knew he had to. He had to pretend to hate this idea, that’s what a normal, not-Aang-obsessed Zuko would do. “Aang…”

“No, I know,” Aang said, “But if we can’t see each other…” he pulled Zuko a little closer, “It’s like...imagine I’m the person you want to kiss, and I’ll imagine you’re Katara.”

“Aang, it’s not that simple,” Oh shut up, It wasn’t hard for Zuko to imagine Aang was the person that he wanted to kiss, because it was that simple, Aang was the person he wanted to kiss.

“Just try it,” Aang said and stood still, waiting for Zuko to agree, slightly tugging on Zuko’s arm. Zuko did give in, though, he wasn’t not going to kiss Aang with the opportunity right in front of him. He leaned down and did it. And he felt the same feeling from his dreams. The first dream, that fire. It was probably the matched power of the Avatar and himself. Aang was already good at kissing. Zuko felt uncomfortable with how good Aang already was. He pulled away. “How was that?” Aang asked.

Zuko was a bit speechless at first, but he pushed himself to speak, “G-good. You’re not bad.”

“Really?” Aang was excited, “Well, show me what to do next!”

He jumped at the chance to do it again, but this time, he went right for it. His tongue touched Aang’s and Aang took note of the interaction between the two. He copied everything Zuko showed him and he noticed how Zuko held him. He put his hands similarly on the other boy. No more words were exchanged, just a nice, hot kiss that only grew hotter, amazingly and almost unbearably hotter. Aang had to pull away for a second taking a breath before being pulled back into it by a passionate firebender. Zuko took a great lead, holding the Avatar at the waist and kneading his skin until his hands were lower at his hips. Aang wasn’t arguing and in fact he forgot where he was and who he was. All he knew was that he might have been learning more about kissing, but he was definitely learning more about Zuko. And damn was it getting hot. It hadn’t been that hot of a night, why was he starting to sweat like this. He wanted to take off his robes. For the heat, not for any other reason, but he didn’t want things to get weird. Weird? Things couldn’t get weird, not any weirder than they already were. Zuko wasn’t sweating like Aang was, he knew that. Of course not, Zuko’s blood run’s as hot as fire, he could take the heat of a kiss. Aang had been training everyday with this kid, he should be able to take a little heat, No, he could take a little heat, but this wasn’t just a little heat.

Aang let out a little moan as he pulled away, Zuko almost followed, but caught himself and released the Avatar slowly. Aang didn’t want Zuko to let go, but he did need a second to cool off. Zuko then noticed how hot Aang was, the small amount of hair on the younger boy’s head was shining with sweat. And this was all caused by him. He pulled Aang back towards him and pulled at his robes, pulling them over the Avatar’s shoulders and down to hang over his waist. Aang appreciated this and felt the cool air on his arms and back. It was an amazing feeling paired with the continuation of a kiss that made him shiver with pleasure and a slight, short-lived chill in the air. Zuko’s hand moved up Aang’s back again and up to his shoulder. That hand felt like fire itself against his bare skin and Aang shivered again and let out a small, uneasy moan. Zuko didn’t know how he was containing himself, and he didn’t want to jinx it so he sighed and pulled away, this time taking a breath himself. He knew they had to stop or he was going to set this kid on fire.

“We should head back,” Zuko stated.

“Mhmm,” Aang replied, still lost in the heat. Zuko pulled at his clothes to help him fix them, but once they entered the moonlight, he could see just how flustered and disheveled he had made Aang. They silently made their way back to their rooms. And before they split off, Zuko clicked his tongue, getting Aang’s full attention.

“I think...I think you’re set, for...kissing,” he said, “If you want to learn more...I could probably show you a little more.”

Aang nodded and scratched his head, “Uh...yeah, I’d like to know a bit more,” he avoided Zuko’s eyes. “Thank you. Goodnight.”

Zuko nodded, “Night,” he said and turned to go to his room. He wanted to look back, but he couldn’t.


	8. Something Funky

As he had expected, Katara was waiting for him. She had fallen asleep in his bed and when he undressed and climbed into bed, she woke up. “You were out kind of late,” she whispered. “Aang okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied, “He just couldn’t get the one move. You know him, he won’t stop until he gets it right.”

She smiled, “Yeah,” she said, “You sleepy?”

He knew what she was really asking. Did he want her to climb on top of him right now? Or was he ready to go to sleep? He could definitely go for a round of roughing, but he also had his head somewhere else. “Yeah,” he whispered and put his arm around her, ready to fall asleep. And that's exactly what he did.

The next day, Zuko and Aang avoided each other at breakfast, eating at opposite ends of the table and not speaking much, to anyone really. After eating, they both met back in the training quad.

“Ready?” Zuko questioned, already imagining what he wanted to do to Aang later. The smaller boy nodded, a red blush on his cheeks. He definitely wasn't ready.

“Aang?” Katara questioned him, “Are you okay? Do you need some water?”

He laughed nervously, “I'm fine!” He said, his smile becoming a bit more convincing after a few seconds.

“Did you sleep okay?” She continued, “You guys got in late last night!”

He nodded, “I slept great!” He was good at acting his normal self for her. “It's just hot!”

Katara nodded, “It is!” She agreed, “I'm going to go do some laundry, train well today!” she said and turned to look at Zuko, “you too!”

They both nodded in agreement and then turned to each other. No one was watching today, it was just Aang and Zuko on the field and they slowly eased into their usual training, both off their game, and struggling to stay focused.

“You guys eat something funky?” Toph approached them after a couple of hours, “you both suck today!”

“We trained too late last night,” Aang replied, “Maybe we should call it a day.”

Zuko nodded, “Yeah,” He agreed, wanting to get away from both of them. Toph would definitely know what was going on if she heard how they were acting towards each other. So they did call it and both retreated hastily. Zuko went to his room while Aang hung with Toph for a bit longer. Dinner came along shortly and everyone ate together. This didn’t happen often as Aang and Zuko usually trained right through dinner like the night before. But at dinner on this night, there was a subtle mood in the air. A quietness that put Toph on the case.

“What is going on today?” She asked, “First Zuko and Aang can’t train and now we’re all tiptoeing around each other. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say someone has a secret.”

Sokka furrowed his brow, “You know, I thought it seemed like something was off today, but now that you mention it, I’m sure.”

“Even Sokka could sense it,” Toph said, “Spill!” she demanded from them.

Zuko kept his gaze off into the trees. Katara studied her food and Aang looked up at the sky. “What the— ,” Sokka said, “What’s going on?” he exclaimed, “Why are you all being weird?”

“Secrets Secrets are no fun unless you share with everyone,” Suki sang.

“Ooh, are you guys gonna surprise me for my birthday?” Sokka questioned, “Wait, don’t tell me.”

Katara gave him a look as if to say flat out that he was such an idiot, “Your birthday isn’t for three more months,” she deadpanned, “ My birthday is sooner than that.”

He narrowed his eyes in the stupid way he did sometimes, “All the more reason to get started now and not make me suspicious.”

“But you are suspicious,” Suki pointed out.

“Or am I?” He questioned.

“Shut up!” Toph said, “There’s something up with Sparkie…”

“Yeah,” Sokka agreed, “He’s being unusually quiet.”

“Zuko’s always quiet,” Suki replied.

Sokka looked to Aang, “Well Aang’s being pretty quiet too!”

Aang raised his eyebrows and then furrowed them quickly, “I’m not being quiet. Who says I’m being quiet? I’m just eating,” he nervously blabbered, “There’s nothing up, we’re just having an off day, I think it’s the moon, you know it’s a full moon tonight. And it was really hot today.”

“Why are you so nervous?” Toph questioned.

“Nervous? I’m not nervous!” he snapped back quickly. “Just still tired from last night. We were out late, right Zuko?”

Oh no, Zuko didn’t want to talk. He looked back towards everyone, “Huh? Oh right, late night. Finally got that move down!”

“What move?” Toph asked.

Zuko and Aang looked at each other nervously. “Uh...what was it again?” Aang questioned.

Zuko hesitated, “You know, the smaller flame going through the bigger one,” Aang hadn’t been able to master that one yet, but he had been working on it. Zuko thought they seemed pretty convincing. But Katara picked up on it immediately. And so did Toph. They both kept their suspicion to themselves. That was until they were sitting together by the water. Both preparing to bathe.


	9. Comparing Notes

Katara knew Zuko was hiding something because she was part of that secret. But what Aang had to do with it, she didn’t know. She wondered if maybe Zuko found out about the kiss her and Aang shared. She didn’t know how to bring it up without seeming too interested. But she didn’t have to bring it up because Toph was already putting things together in her head.

“Are you and Twinkletoes a thing?” Toph asked, “I heard you guys the other night. You like him?”

At first she wanted to deny it, but Toph was way too intuitive for that to do anything but waste time. “We kissed, but...I don’t know how I feel about him anymore.”

“Hmm,” she said, “Well I know something you don’t know.” Toph teased.

“What?” she asked, “Does it have to do with what happened at dinner?”

“Maybe,” Toph said, “It definitely has to do with Sparkie, and you.”

“What is it?” Katara was sure that Toph had it all figured out and that she would be able to make sense of it all.

Toph laughed, “Well, Zuko likes you,” she said.

Katara narrowed her eyes, wondering if Toph was playing with her and knew the reality of the situation, or if she really thought Zuko simply liked her. She decided to play along if it was just a game. “What makes you think that?”

“He told me,” she said, “I was bothering him because I knew he was all flustered over someone and he told me it was you.”

“Well that explains it all then,” she said. “Aang and Zuko both like me, there’s nothing wrong with them, then.”

“But...you see,” Toph gritted her teeth and smiled awkwardly, “I told Zuko that you kissed Aang.” She admitted.

That was the missing piece. That’s why the guys had been acting so weird. Zuko knew about the kiss. “What did he say?”

“N-nothing,” Toph said, “I think he might have known already because he seemed unphased. But now this? The two of them are acting so weird.”

Katara let the conversation about the boys end there. She continued to think about it though. She couldn’t let it go. Instead she bathed and went to her room. Waiting for it to get darker so she could go to Zuko’s room and figure it all out with him. She knew Zuko and Aang had gone back out after dinner to train a bit more so she figured it’d be a while before they came back. But when she got to Zuko’s room and it was far past the time he had been out the night before, she decided she’d go watch them train. It was a short walk from the rooms through the dining hall and out to the courtyard and the field beyond. But she had yet to see a sign of either Zuko or Aang. No sound, no movement, no fire. She walked out towards the field and saw that there was no one there. And when she realized she was completely alone, she turned back and instead went to Aang’s room. She knocked, with no reply. She knocked again and again received no response. She was about to open the door when she heard the familiar happy voice from around the corner, down the hall.

“Good night,” Aang said, probably to Zuko and continued down the hall. “Katara!” Aang greeted, “What are you doing up this late?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said, “And I figured I’d come talk to you.”

He was surprised, “Oh, um...well I’m really tired,” he replied, hating that he had to turn her down. But he was covered in sweat and actual burns this time and if she saw him in proper lighting, she would know for sure that he was up to something. He did consider the fact that maybe she wanted to do more than just talk and he might be able to try his new skills with her, but he hadn’t completely recovered or calmed down from training with Zuko and it would have been quite obvious had she made a move. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

She was already suspicious. Aang didn’t want to talk to her? Something had to be up. She could smell the burnt smell of the edge of his robes. She didn’t look too closely, but she saw the sweat and the redness in his cheeks. “Everything’s fine,” she smiled, “Just couldn’t sleep. You’re right though. You need to get your sleep. And maybe a bath,” she laughed.

He laughed too, “Yeah,” he nodded, “Well good night.”

She nodded back, “Good night, Aang.”


	10. Burning Bridges

After saying her goodnight to Aang, Katara turned around, rolling her eyes and heading to Zuko’s room. She wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep until she knew where they had been and what they were doing. She had an idea of what was going on now, and she didn't like it. She didn't like the lying or keeping of secrets, especially from Aang. She didn’t knock on Zuko’s door, just walked right in. He had taken his shirt off and was laying flat on his back.

“I was wondering where you were,” he said.

“Well, I’ll tell you where I was if you tell me where you were,” she teased, but she really wanted to know.

“Training with Aang, We told you at dinner, remember?” he asked and sat up. His face was flushed, like Aangs had been.

“Training where?” she asked, ignoring how annoyed she was. She hated not knowing what was going on.

He knew that she knew that they hadn’t been in the courtyard. “In the field,” he said, “We went into the woods for a little bit...to train with obstacles.”

She watched him, eyes still narrowed as if she was trying to decide whether to believe him or not. “You guys are working so hard lately.”

He nodded, “Yeah, Aang’s getting pretty good.” Katara came and sat next to Zuko on the bed.

“Well, he is the Avatar,” Katara said.

“Yeah,” Zuko agreed. That was a red flag to Katara. Zuko never went out of the way to compliment Aang. Something wasn’t right.

“Toph told me that she told you about the kiss,” Katara said quietly. She just wanted to clear the air. “I’m sorry, I don’t know if I really wanted to kiss him. It’s just happened.”

Zuko didn’t know what to say. If he was being honest, it didn’t bother him that Katara and Aang had kissed. His head was still spinning from the “training” him and Aang had just done. “You like him, don’t you?”

She raised her eyebrows, “N-no,” she lied, “I mean...yes and no. Not like that.”

“You love him,” He stated, “You two are close.”

She didn’t know where he was coming from saying that, but he wasn’t wrong. His voice seemed to say he was apathetic to the conversation, but she could hardly believe that. “Are you angry?”

“About you and Aang?” he questioned, “Why would I be angry? It’s bound to happen. Aang’s a likable guy.”

Katara was sure Zuko was being sarcastic now, bitter even, with that smug indifference. “I’m sorry," she said, not a genuine apology, a guise to push him.

“Katara, you don’t have to be sorry,” he said, “I get it.” He was really good at feigning sincerity. She didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Are you going harder on him?” she asked outright. This had been her theory.

“What?” he questioned.

“I mean in training,” Katara explained, “Are you pushing him. He’s acting weird and...are you trying to hurt him?”

Zuko actually started to feel a bit angry. He was completely surprised by this accusation. Katara thought he was jealous and in reality, he was way too occupied with Aang to even consider Katara. But here she was, thinking he would torture Aang just because of a stupid little kiss. Well he could easily go harder on Aang if he wanted to. He could push Aang in “training” as hard as he wanted. “You think I would purposely hurt him?”

“Well it wouldn’t be the first time,” She said. That was uncalled for.

“Can you just go?” he asked, but it was more of a statement

“Zuko, I’m sorry,” she said, she realized she had gone too far, too fast, “I-I didn’t mean that.”

He rolled his eyes, “I’m going to bed. Hit the light on your way out.”

She huffed, upset with both him and herself. She turned and left, doing as he asked. She went back to her room.


	11. Bending Behind your Back

The next day, things only got more awkward at the dining table. Toph was aware, but she knew, or thought she knew, everything now. Katara had become more interested in what was going on between Zuko and Aang, and less interested in her own relationship with the two boys. Aang was off in his own world. His mind was wandering between his feelings for Katara and his newfound physical appreciation for Zuko. When he had seen his robes in the morning, the feelings had come rushing back to him from the night before. Oh, and Zuko was still mad at Katara.

“Whoa, what happened to you?” Suki asked when she noticed the red patchiness on Aang’s shoulder. Zuko knew it would look bad for him in Katara’s eyes. But Aang looked down and rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t think it would leave a mark,” he said, “Zuko showed me how to bend fire behind my back, but...I really need more practice.” How was he so convincing? Zuko looked at the burned area on Aang’s shoulder and thought back to the night before. His hand had been holding the boy’s shoulder, firmly, but not too tightly. It shouldn’t have burned him like that. Zuko’s hand should have never gotten that hot, but when him and Aang were kissing, he couldn’t seem to control his body temperature, or keep it from rising in the random places that made contact with the other boy’s skin. At this point he was sure that what he had done with Katara was merely out of curiosity, because what he was feeling with Aang was far more intense.

“You can bend behind your back?” Sokka asked Zuko.

“Katara can bend water behind her back,” Suki pointed out.

“I can bend earth behind my back,” Toph announced, the whole crew took a second to realize the irony in what they had been saying and they all laughed.

“It's really amazing what you can do without seeing, Toph,” Aang said, “I know air like the back of my hand, and water and earth are getting easier, but—”

“But fire isn't something you should be playing with,” Katara cut him off to add her snappy advice. She was being protective, but it was coming off as bitter.

“Alright, Mom,” Aang joked, hoping everything would return back to normal, and that the suspicion was off. He zoned out a bit, remembering the night before. It had only been the second time him and Zuko practiced that kind of stuff, but it was getting so intense that he didn't know how much more he could take. They had gotten so into it that they had narrowly avoided falling to the ground by leaning against a tree. A tree they almost caught on fire. Zuko had told Aang they would have to find another place to “train” because it was too dangerous in the woods. All Aang could think about was when and where the next time would be.

After breakfast, the gang split off to do their daily activities, and Zuko and Aang found themselves in the courtyard, opposite one another, thinking and staring. “We could practice the small and big flame thing,” Aang offered, knowing that he still hadn't mastered it and that it would be evident that he had been lying before if the others found out.

Zuko nodded, “Yeah, okay,” He agreed, not having anything better to suggest. He was all in his head about where they could go to continue their other training and he hadn't stopped thinking about Aang in that way, so being opposite him in the courtyard, feeling all hot and bothered, wasn't doing anyone any good. So he silently watched Aang try to perfect the move. He had the basics down, it just wasn't looking pretty.

“Is this better?” Aang asked, doing it a different way, the result was the same, but the technique wasn't all that graceful.

Zuko didn't really care at that point, but he knew it wasn't gonna go well for Aang if he attempted to do the move that way in battle. “It works but...that's not practical.”

Aang, although it didn't show, was feeling similar to Zuko. He didn't care much for learning the move and doing it over and over again was getting discouraging and irritating. “Let's do something else.” Aang said, agitated.

That was the first idea that Zuko wholeheartedly agreed to. It was early, but he was ready to take to the other training that they had been doing. “Do you want to start early on the other stuff?”

Aang liked that idea too. But he still hadn't thought of a different place to do it. “But where will we go?”

After some further thought, Zuko decided that it wouldn't be so hard to practice this kind of stuff inside somewhere. If anything, it would force him to be more careful and to learn to control himself. “Let's go to my room,” He said.

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Aang asked, “What if it gets too hot?”

Zuko paused and thought before saying, “I could use the practice.” He waited for Aang to join him on his walk to his room, “I think if it's my own things, I'll have to resist burning them. And...I really don't want to burn you any worse.”

Aang couldn't argue with that logic, or he didn't care to. If it meant more "training" he was in.


	12. Prying Ears

As the boys walked off, they hadn't seen Toph, who was standing not too far off along the path and near the courtyard itself, and she had heard everything. She had been on her way to sit and listen to the boys train, but when she heard Aang request that they do something else, and then heard Zuko respond with what she would have called enthusiasm, something she was pretty sure Zuko was immune to, she knew something was up. And the whole rest of the conversation just got more and more peculiar.

What was the “other stuff” they'd be doing in Zuko's room, and why did Zuko need practice holding back his fire? She really wanted to know, but there was close to nothing she could do besides wait close by and listen in, something she hadn't allowed herself to do since she had accidentally listened to Sokka and Suki getting it on by the river. She actively attempted not to listen in to anything after that, but this wasn't a matter of being a perv, this was more a matter of getting to the bottom of the suspicion. She wanted to know why everyone was acting so weird, and if she was honest, she also had her worries about Zuko’s intent with Aang after she had told him about the kiss. So she found the best spot for her to be able to hear into Zuko's room once she saw them go in. The first thing she noticed was that they had locked the door. That was a red flag.

“Do you even have anything in here of sentimental value?” Aang asked Zuko. “You haven't even put your robes away, or changed the sheets.”

“I don't know,” Zuko said, unsure of how to answer without making it too obvious that he was sick of talking. He couldn't even look at Aang, knowing he wouldn't be able to control himself if he did. They were both still standing, Zuko closer to the bed and Aang to the door, but Toph couldn't tell that. She could only barely hear their voices.

“I can't believe we almost burned down that tree,” Aang said as Zuko sat on his bed. “actually, I really can't believe how bad the burn got on my shoulder. It just looked like a really bad sunburn though.”

“Did you ice it?” Zuko asked. He was looking at it and Aang could see that Zuko felt bad about it. He walked closer to the firebender, putting his opposite hand up to the burn. He rubbed his hand over it.

“It didn't really hurt, I mean it doesn't,” He said, his voice was softer, Toph almost couldn't hear him, but she was determined, she even held her breath to avoid missing anything, “I know you didn't mean too,” Aang said in a voice barely above a whisper.

While Zuko had been concerned about hurting Aang, and about burning things uncontrollably, another part of him was thinking about Katara. This part of him was feeling spiteful and daring, wondering if he would hurt Aang to make Katara upset. And that thought struck a nerve, he got a strange pleasure from knowing anything Aang and Katara would possibly be doing, he would be doing it first. Now if only he could put aside his strange urges to melt the kid, he would have this whole situation in the palm of his hand.

Zuko looked at the Avatar, at the redness he had left on his shoulder and then at the faint scar he left on his chin, and finally he looked into those annoyingly grey eyes and sighed. Even if he wanted so badly to hurt him, he wanted just as badly or even more so to keep him coming back for more. More kissing, more pain, more fire, more, Zuko wanted more. He didn't want Katara to have Aang or for him to even want Katara, but he knew that she was his whole motivation behind this “training”. And it made him angry to think about, he gritted his teeth. He looked away from Aang.

“Zuko,” Aang said, “Are you okay?”

Toph was surprised by the softness in the Avatar’s voice. She didn't even know anyone could talk to Zuko like that. But nothing could have prepared her for what she had heard next, she wouldn't have believed anyone if they had told her that Aang and Zuko were kissing. She had had her silly thoughts about Zuko liking Aang before, and she had mentally cringed at how bizarre it actually would have been, how absolutely impossible it was. But here they were, she was hearing with her own ears. And that was it, she stood up and left them alone, knowing anything more would have made it way too hard to look at the two of them at dinner.


	13. It's Just Practice

But Toph hadn't even heard the half of it. Zuko was surprised when Aang leaned in for the kiss. He wasn't looking at Aang, he wasn't attempting to provoke anything from the Avatar. He was simply basking in his defeat of the whole situation, preparing himself for their “training”, when Aang went all soft on him. This wasn't practice, it was a response. You don't just kiss someone when you think they're feeling down, not someone that you're not supposed to be kissing. Zuko didn't resist it at first, but he didn't entertain it either, he just sat there as Aang teased him with a sweet kiss. But then he realized. He put his hand up to Aang's collar, pushing him back a little. “Aang—,”

“I—uh...sorry,” Aang said, realizing it all himself, “I wasn't thinking…that—Sorry.” He couldn't figure out what he wanted to say, he just felt awkward and in the wrong and very, very sorry.

This was all just confirming to Zuko, that Aang was aware of their relationship. This was a slip up that didn't mean anything and Aang was being nice in a way that he knew how to now. It all meant that Aang and Zuko would just be “training” and that's all. Which was really the only way this could work out. Even if Zuko would be Aang's first with everything, it was all just practice and wouldn't technically count in the Avatar’s eyes. So an angry Zuko said, “It's whatever,” And pulled Aang down to sit.

“We don't have to do this…” Aang said, “If it's weird.” Weird? Zuko wasn't worried about ‘weird’. He didn't care about ‘weird’ anymore.

“You don't need the practice anymore?” Zuko questioned.

“That's not what I'm saying,” Aang argued, “But...if kissing me is awkward...you don't have to do this. You've done enough.”

“It's not awkward for me,” Zuko said and it wasn't completely a lie. Kissing Aang wasn't awkward, “It's just practice.” There was the lie.

Aang knew what Zuko was saying was true...or he thought it was. Obviously it was just practice, obviously it didn't mean anything to this former fire prince who probably had plenty of girlfriends and tons of experience. Aang was aware of all of that, so why did it hurt just a little bit? And why did it feel like it meant so much more to the Avatar. He nodded in agreement anyway and waited for Zuko to make a move.

And Zuko was over it all. If it was gonna be meaningless, it might as well be enjoyable, he thought. So he did make his move. He leaned in to kiss Aang again, this time wasting no time with his tongue and hands. And Aang felt the same way, not being over it, but wanting to enjoy the times when Zuko could make him feel a way no one else ever had before. Meaningless, maybe a little, except for it being a means to improve his own skills. Not that he was getting much time to use them. It had only been a couple days though. Aang knew that the opportunity to use his practice wouldn’t present itself overnight. Aang had also become aware of a different problem he was having. Since him and Zuko had started their special training, he had been feeling some things, other than the heat and the pleasure, he had been feeling a tightness in his chest that struck him and made its way down past his stomach, stopping right between his legs. At first, he recognized the feeling, because it was similar to when he thought about Katara, and the one time he saw her bathing, accidentally of course. But after he felt the feeling get even stronger and he started to feel his heartbeat down there, he knew something was wrong.

“Zuko,” he said and pushed him back. Sweat was already forming on the back of his neck, making the little hairs stand up. He looked at the firebender and swallowed before saying, “I was wondering if what we’re doing could...well, I think it’s making me sick.”

Zuko, feeling slightly winded from forcing himself to hold back, questioned Aang with his eyes, “Sick how?” he asked, sitting back.

“My stomach feels…” he hesitated, “It’s tight.”

“Does it hurt?” Zuko asked.

Aang looked down and shook his head, but in case Zuko wasn’t able to see that, he said, “No, it’s not really painful, but...like just tight. It happens every time we do this.”

“Every time?” Zuko questioned.

“Uh, the last time we did it, and right now. Oh...and once when I was just thinking about this.”

“You’re just turned on,” Zuko replied, calmly. “You’re getting hard.” He reached over to the other boy's lap and felt around his pants, resting his hand on his crotch. “It just means you’re ready for the next part. Like the stuff after kissing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay you're gonna cringe, I almost titled this chapter "Practice Makes (P)er(f)ection" I know! Gah!


	14. Blunt and Bold

“So it’s normal?” Aang asked.

Zuko nodded, “Yeah.”

“Are you...hard too?” The avatar was so blunt.

Zuko was thrown and he took his hand away from Aang’s tenting pants. “I’m like semi-hard.” he replied, “Usually you should get hard for the person you wanna do stuff with. But it—it’s normal when you’re not really experienced.” Aang was blushing, but this made him feel better. He didn’t want to mess things up with Zuko. “Do you want to stop?”

Aang shook his head again, “No,” he said quietly. He felt really small, and nervous to say, “A—are you gonna show me the stuff a—after kissing?” he forced it out.

Why did they have to have this conversation right then? Zuko just wanted to make out with Aang, but he realized that this discussion was going to have to happen sooner or later. So he let out a little breath, before saying, “If you want me to.”

“Well where else will I learn it,” he said, abruptly. He didn’t mean it to sound so harsh, but he was nervous.

Zuko smiled at this, he was right. “There’s a little bit between kissing and that,” he said, trying to sound as emotionless as usual, but it was hard. He was having fun.

“And you’ll show me that too?” Aang prodded, he just couldn’t leave it alone.

“Listen,” Zuko started, ready to lay things out to the Avatar, “We’re not in the dark here, it’s not as easy to pretend your Princess Yue or some other fantasy girl, so bear with me,” One thing that helped Zuko maintain his utter deception was the lack of feelings in his words at almost all instances of his life. It may have been harder for him to tell Aang that he wasn’t attracted to him otherwise. And again, this hurt Aang. He hadn’t doubted it, not in his mind at least. His body had started to wonder, but this just put him back in his place, as Zuko had intended. “If we take things slowly, I can show you...a lot of it.”

Aang nodded almost immediately, as usual, despite his feelings of uneasiness, he was eager. “Thank you, Zuko.”

Although Zuko could keep a cold tone and expression, hearing his name spoken so warmly after such a sincere thank you made his cheeks heat up, and it may also have had to do with the short distance away the Avatar was when he said it. And the fact that it was Aang. Zuko pushed those thoughts away with a swift nod and a hardened stare, said, “So...ready?”

“Ready,” Aang repeated back to him, watching Zuko closely now, he had noticed the slight blush that had appeared on the older boy’s face, it showed deeper on the side of his face without the scar, and it also made Aang’s cheeks redden some more.

Zuko leaned in towards Aang who was sitting inches away and leaned in as well. Their lips met and Aang was feeling different. Now that he knew what that feeling was, it wasn’t as scary...but it was more exciting. He felt like he wanted more, so he went for it. He shrugged his shoulders out of the folds of his robes and felt them loosen as they slid down the tops of his arms. And as if he had sensed them slipping down, Zuko’s hands aided them in their trip, urging the Avatar’s elbows to lift out of them. Aang was essentially topless. Zuko liked that, he knew Aang was a boy, but something about his chest stirred Zuko's stomach, and the aforementioned semi-hard was now quite obviously hard. Zuko took note of how easily that had changed. Something as simple as the Avatar’s nipples? Really?

Aang moaned as Zuko’s lips left his and landed softly on his neck. He gasped at the feeling that shot from the point where Zuko sucked on his neck to that new, exciting spot. And his gasps were increasingly enthused as Zuko continued, slowly, harshly, leaving a dark red mark on the younger boy. “Zuko,” he said in one of his gasps, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. His fingers gripped Zuko’s bicep, pulling it slightly towards himself. Zuko took that as an invitation and rolled over on top of the Avatar. Aang’s back was to the bed and he opened his eyes to look up at Zuko as they readjusted for comfort. Zuko’s hand slid up Aang’s thigh and rested at his hip, firmly. Things were starting to heat up, but Zuko wasn’t struggling, he had control. He did for the most part, until Aang took some initiative and inched his legs apart. This put the pressure between them and their lower halves at an all time high. Zuko’s body jerked forward and he sighed loudly in response. He wondered for a second if the Avatar knew what he had done, but when he sought his answer out from the younger boy's face, he could tell that Aang was just as surprised as he had been.


	15. Release

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Sexy Stuff

“That feels—,” Aang began, his voice had pitched up and it was strained. He didn’t finish his sentence with an intelligible word, just a mix of a moan and a gasp as Zuko continued his doing with the Avatar’s neck.

Zuko almost laughed at Aang's inability to speak clearly, he liked being a source of disarray to the other. “The place where you were feeling 'sick'...it’s like the headquarters for stuff after kissing.” Zuko explained, pulling away from Aang’s neck again to look into his eyes once more. Aang nodded and Zuko leaned down to return to his lips. He used his hands to take Aang’s wrists and pin them above his head as he pushed his body towards Aang and applied more pressure than before, eliciting another moanish gasp from the Avatar. “Have you ever touched yourself there?”

Aang’s eyes opened wide, not in shock but in innocence. “What?” he said softly.

“Like with your hands…” he said, “Rubbing yourself, the hard part.”

“N—not really,” he said, “I usually just...splash some water on it and I’m fine.”

Zuko almost couldn’t believe that, but he didn't have the mind to investigate it further. “...I’m gonna touch you, okay?”

Aang nodded, again kind of eagerly, “Is it gonna hurt?” he asked.

“It shouldn’t,” he replied, using one hand to untie the robe, his other hand continued to hold Aang’s hands above his head. He managed to unwrap the Avatar’s body, adding “It should feel really good.”

Aang was nervous, but he trusted Zuko and as he felt Zuko’s hand wrap around his "headquarters", he finally knew what it felt like to melt. He couldn’t control the sounds that exited his mouth as Zuko’s hand tightened and pulled up and down, almost bringing him to tears. This was the first time he had ever felt this way, but it wasn’t the first time Zuko had made him feel something new and different. He shut his eyes and his mind was racing and spinning like a tornado on a rampage, he thought about his closeness to crying, the sweat pricking in the hairs of his armpits and on top of his head. He cried out and pushed against Zuko’s hand at his wrists. Zuko released the hold he had on them, but Aang reached higher above his head towards the top of the bed grasping for something to hold onto. Before they could clutch anything in their grip, Zuko increased his speed, bringing Aang closer to ecstasy, causing his arms to bend at the elbow and frame his face as he squirmed, back arching up from the bed. Zuko was mesmerized by this display, so much so that he was on edge as well, close to his own climax. His breathing had shallowed along with the Avatar’s and he was sure that they were both almost done for. Tears flowed out of Aang’s tightly shut eyes as his body contorted and with a loud “Oh,” followed by “Zuko!” and another mix of words in a whine, the Avatar came onto his chest and into Zuko’s hand in a few long spurts. “I...Is that—,” Zuko was so turned on, he didn’t have time to explain, he pulled his own robes down and exposed his own hard self. Aang pushed himself up on his elbows to take in the sight of Zuko doing to himself exactly what he had just done to him seconds ago. He was silent, motionless besides his heart beating wildly, captivated by the act. It took Zuko only a minute to reach, and he did so in the same place as the Avatar. Aang’s eyes were wide again, and he was speechless. He looked up at Zuko, who stepped back, readjusted his robes to cover his lower half and then grabbed a towel from the pile on a stool beside his nightstand.

“That’s called an orgasm,” Zuko said, wiping his hand and then moving to clean off the Avatars chest and belly.

“What’s that stuff?” Aang asked, watching Zuko fold the towel and toss it to the floor.

“It’s called cum,” he replied and sat next to Aang, “And if it comes out inside a girl it can get her pregnant.”

Aang’s eyes somehow widened even more after hearing that, he collapsed back down to the bed where Zuko joined him. “How—,” he started, “This goes inside?” Aang was finally seeing the bigger picture.

“We just did some in between stuff,” Zuko said, “but going all the way is when you put it inside.” He couldn’t believe he was giving the Avatar "the talk" and especially after just having cum on his chest.


	16. Success and Succession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: "the talk"

“You didn’t catch anything on fire,” Aang said, cheerfully, “Well for a second there it felt like my brain was on fire, but other than that it went well.”

Zuko wanted to smile, actually he wanted to laugh, but he was hung up on something the Avatar had said, the words right before he came. “You know...you probably shouldn’t say my name when you orgasm. I guess in the future it’d be 'Katara',” he mockingly said her name, it felt unpleasant in the context.

“Well, will Katara know how to do that? She doesn’t have a...'headquarters',” he said it so innocently. It seemed crude to be talking about.

“She has a different kind of...'headquarters',” he wanted to tell Aang that it wasn’t actually called a headquarters but he knew that he knew it, he couldn’t think of a better word for it besides it’s proper name, and he didn’t feel like cringing, as he knew he would if he spoke the words. He let it go and instead said, “And she knows how to do that, maybe even better than me.” Shit, maybe he should have gone the other direction after all.

Aang nodded not seeming to realize what it was Zuko had implied. He took it to mean that girls were experienced or somehow knew that stuff, rather than meaning that Zuko knew for a fact that Katara gave a good hand-job, which was the case.

“What made you fold your arms up around your face like that?” Zuko questioned, replaying the action in his mind, the action that caused him to lose his breath. The scene reminded him of a flower blooming, and gave him a chill just thinking back to it.

Aang hesitated, trying to remember what had just happened minutes before, “Um...I think it just felt really good. I’ve never felt like that before,” he explained, only confirming his innocence. “It didn’t feel like I had control of myself. So my body just reacted.”

Zuko set his jaw, not liking the answer, because it made him want to go again. Knowing he had made the Avatar feel that way was empowering.

“When you asked if I had ever done that myself...did you mean like how you did it?” Aang asked, “I can do that?”

Zuko nodded, propping himself on an elbow to look the Avatar over. “You can do it any time you’re alone and turned on. Most people do it before bed, or when they wake up in the morning...or maybe in the shower, I don’t know.”

“When do you do it?” Aang asked.

That was personal. Zuko didn’t know if he wanted to go down this route with Aang. It seemed like things were going to a weird place, but after hesitating to answer he decided to say, “I don’t really have a set time...I just do it when I can and want to.”

Aang nodded, “And girls will do it for you?”

“If they like you and feel like they want to,” he said, “You’re both going to be turned on from making out most likely. Just like we were, and then it will move towards other things. Like what we just did, I gave you a hand-job and then got myself off. A girl could give you a hand-job, a blow-job, or you could go all the way and have sex.” Zuko was sick of this conversation, he wanted to kiss Aang again, or do something else with him. But he also didn’t want to give him the wrong information, so he thought about it some more, listening to his breathing. The other boy looked as if he had a question he was holding back so Zuko recounted his last statement. “Sometimes girls don’t want to have sex or do anything and they just want to kiss.”

“What’s a blowjob?” Aang asked when he knew Zuko was done.

Zuko couldn’t help but smirk before returning to his back on the bed. He looked up at the ceiling. “A blowjob is like a handjob, but using your mouth...well she’ll use her mouth.”

“She puts her mouth on—,” he stopped himself, “have you done all of that stuff?”

Zuko’s smile faded and he looked over at Aang, who was now moving his own elbow so that he could prop himself up to look at Zuko.

“Most,” Zuko replied, “I think I’ve done mostly everything.”

“Have you done it with a guy before?” Aang was getting far too personal. To the point that Zuko worried if he should send him on his way.

Zuko furrowed his brow, feeling Aang’s eyes leave his. He took that opportunity to glance over to see Aang studying his body. “No,” Zuko said, wondering why he was allowing this talk to continue. “Just girls.”

Aang’s eyes wandered around Zuko some more. Looking at his feet, his legs, torso, arms, neck and eventually back to his eyes. “Did you hate doing it with me?” Aang ventured, he had to know he was in dangerous territory.


	17. Back to Reality

Zuko narrowed his eyes at the Avatar, prepared to advise him to go, but he was stopped abruptly by the sound of his door being knocked on.

“Zuko?” it was Katara, “Aang? Are you in there?”

The two boys shot up from the bed and hurried to fix their robes and hide all evidence of what they had done. Aang stood up and then decided it’d be more natural if they were sitting on the bed, rather than standing awkwardly in the small room. Zuko agreed without a word and went to open the door, unlocking it at the same time, hoping Katara wouldn’t notice that it was locked in the first place.

“What’s up?” Zuko said, cooly, or he attempted “cooly”.

“Hey,” Katara said, she had remembered their last exchange and wasn’t excited to be checking in on the situation Toph had brought up to her. She looked past Zuko to Aang and made it clear she was suspicious. 

“Hey Katara!” Aang said, in his believably enthused voice.

“Hey,” she said, a little less excited, “Toph told me you two weren’t in the courtyard and that she saw you guys come in here. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“Yup, we’re great!” Aang said, “Just talking about some...personal stuff.”

“Oh,” She nodded at him, and it was obvious, to Zuko at least, that she was concerned. She may have been hurt that Aang was going to someone other than herself with personal stuff. But she wouldn’t have understood anyway. Or...well she would, but Aang was too embarrassed to admit that he didn’t know what he was doing when it came to her and what he wanted to do with her. That case may have even crossed her mind, but even so, she didn’t like that Aang was going to Zuko with anything. She didn’t trust him, not completely. And as upset as she was with herself for accusing Zuko of hurting Aang on purpose, she still didn’t discredit the idea. Especially now that she had driven Zuko to kick her out the other night. “Are you guys going to be training?”

Aang hesitated and looked at Zuko for a second before returning his sincere eyes to Katara, “I’m just kind of in a funk right now.” he said, “We’ll get back to training soon, I...I think I just need a couple days break.”

Katara watched him, studied him, thinking. Finally she nodded and then looked at Zuko for a few seconds, giving him her previous look of suspicion and then softening that gaze. She could slap herself for turning him against her, as it really muddied the water. “I want to talk to you,” she said to Zuko, “Later.” she added.

He nodded, his cold expression had started to feel natural again after facing her, it was a shift back to default after having been somewhat comfortable with Aang. “Later, then” he said, it was icy. Katara hated it. She hated how it made her feel, like an outsider, not just to Zuko’s world now, but to Aang’s as well.

She turned and left.

Zuko shut the door and turned back to Aang, still holding the handle. “You should probably go.”

Aang resented the tone Zuko took now, and he couldn’t help but hold it against Katara for intruding. Although, if she hadn’t, Zuko’s and his own actions probably wouldn’t have differed much, besides the urgency the two took with making themselves presentable. Aang stood up, hesitantly, his peppiness he had used with Katara was far gone. “See ya,” he managed.

Zuko stopped him at the door with a click of his tongue, hesitating, himself, to say what he was thinking. This action never failed to get Aang’s attention, he was alert now, looking at Zuko, wondering what he would say, “Homework,” he stated, then lowered his voice, leaning ever so slightly towards the Avatar, “Touch yourself.”

Aang’s face flushed once again, and he gave a shy smile, and a nod and set off.

“See you at dinner,” Zuko tacked on as he shut the door, holding back a smirk. He loved the reaction that had gotten him.


	18. Becoming Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added to this chapter to get the boring stuffs out of the way

Before they knew it, it was dinnertime. At the table, the gang found themselves eating in silence once again. Zuko didn’t mind, it wasn’t just him being quiet as usual. It didn’t feel uncomfortable, in fact, although he wasn’t sure what Katara had to say, he was pretty content with every other detail in his life. He had Aang where he wanted him and...well actually that was about it. That was enough for him to be satisfied.

Aang was a little on edge, he was still processing what his body had felt for the first time only a few hours before, along with balancing sneaky glances at both Zuko and Katara, he had enough on his mind.

Katara was still upset. She had thought and thought about what she had said to Zuko before, and now what she wanted to say and she still didn’t have the facts, or any proof of what she wanted so badly to believe — that Zuko was hurting Aang. She wanted to know why the two of them had been spending so much time together off of the battle-field. What personal stuff had they been talking about. She had a clue to that one, again, she knew well her way around a man’s body, not in a prideful or explicit way, but in a way that was respectable. And she didn’t have a problem with Aang being curious and maybe anxious, as she would describe it seeing as he said he was going through a funk. She had given it more thought, and another theory had popped into her mind, one that involved Zuko telling Aang about what the two of them had done, about the countless nights they spent together in Zuko’s room. Again, they didn’t shame her, but it was private information that she didn’t need anyone knowing about, especially the Avatar, the boy she knew she loved. She knew there was something she was missing, something she was wrong about that she couldn’t quite figure out.

And had Toph spoken up, Katara would have the whole picture...kind of. But Toph sat just as quietly as the rest of them, knowing this wasn’t some silly rumor to throw around. This was a serious situation, with seemingly serious relationships that she wasn’t supposed to know about. She had almost wished she didn’t know, wished she had been as clueless as Sokka and Suki. The two lovebirds had recently been so infatuated with each other, that they probably wouldn’t have realized if the world was exploding around them. It wasn’t, but to Toph, it felt like it was.

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Toph had only said one sentence to Katara before the waterbender had left her urgently in the direction of Zuko’s room. 

“Have you seen Aang or Zuko?” Katara had questioned.  
Toph stiffened, “Um...They were training in the courtyard, but then I think they went off to their rooms,” She said, not wanting to give too much away. She didn’t want to lie, but Katara didn’t need to know everything. When Toph felt the desperation in Katara’s pace, as she disappeared towards the rooms, she wondered if maybe Katara already knew more.

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After dinner, Katara wasted no time pulling Zuko aside to talk to him. They walked off towards the woods where no one would be around.

“Can we make this quick?” Zuko asked.

Katara wasn’t surprised, she had expected him to be distant, “Sure,” she said, trying to match his detached tone. It was a good effort, but it went unnoticed by Zuko. He, again, was pretty content, he didn’t need anything out of this conversation, therefore he wasn’t very invested. Katara rolled her eyes before saying, “Just tell me this, do you like Aang?”  
Zuko didn’t show it, but he was surprised, they were walking closer to the woods, maybe about to walk into them. “What?” he questioned.

“Do you like him? Do you care about him at all?” Katara was taking this route of questioning, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to get a straight answer about what was going on. “He trusts you.” she said.

Zuko didn’t know how to respond. He already knew this information. What he didn’t know was how much Katara knew Aang trusted him. “So?”

“So,” she was pissed, “He trusts you, so I want to know if you care about him. Are you honest with him?”

Honest? He wondered that himself. Had he been honest? To a degree, yes, but what was Katara on about? What kind of honesty did she mean? “Honest about what?”

“About things, about us? Did you tell him we were together...or about stuff we did? What is this personal stuff you two are talking about?” She started to sound a little desperate at the end.

Zuko finally realized, after Katara had spelled it out. She was worried about their secret getting out. “We don’t talk about you,” Zuko assured her, but he knew that wasn’t going to calm her nerves. “And the personal stuff is personal. If he wanted to tell you about it, he would.”

“Zuko!” she said, raising her voice. It was hurting her in a different place now, that Zuko was being so indifferent to her and how she felt. “Fine,” she retreated, sighing. Only a few nights before, her and Zuko had been so close, warm, tight, and now this. “Just please don’t hurt him.” She said, walking off, back towards the courtyard and her room.

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Before Zuko could return to his room that night, Toph stopped him.

“Can we talk tomorrow?” he asked, “I’m tired.”

Toph was already pulling him back towards the field and woods. “Sorry, Sparkie, no can do.” They were further in the woods than him and Katara had gone when Toph finally let go and turned to face him. “You lied to me.”

Zuko furrowed his brow and watched her.

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” she demanded, “You’re lucky I can keep a secret, but this love triangle ain’t gonna bode well for the gang. Secret or not.”

Zuko still feigned ignorance once more.

“You and Aang?” Toph’s choice to use the Avatar’s name, rather than using her nickname for him, was a bit sobering for Zuko. And he worried that she really knew something.

“What about me and Aang?” he asked.

Originally, Toph hadn’t planned on saying anything. She had actually planned to keep her mouth shut, until she realized (or thought she realized) Katara was in on it too. And now she had to know more, and she had to make her opinion clear on the matter, and that was that this was gonna wreck the gang. “I heard you two…’practicing’ the ‘other stuff’,” those words were burned into her mind. To think that Aang could go behind Katara’s back and do this, with Zuko of all people. She felt that Aang and Katara were kismet, written in the stars, everything about them seemed fated. And here was the tall handsome (former) fire prince, rolling in and messing everything up.

Zuko was at a loss for words. If Toph knew, word was easily going to get out. “It’s not what you think,” He said, slightly distressed. He decided to tell her the half-truth, or the truth according to Aang, “We really are practicing.”

She didn’t buy it.

He persisted, “He asked me to show him how to kiss.” he replied, leaving it at that. He didn’t know what she knew, if she knew about it all.

She didn’t seem to believe it, but she was considering it. She was smart enough to wonder. Toph knew it was more than practice or training because of what she had heard, the softness in Aang’s voice and his initiative with the kiss, and not to mention Zuko’s admission of guilt for the burn on his shoulder...She knew it was more, so she pushed it. “And you said yes?”

Zuko was surprised. She had already gotten further in thought than he had imagined. A Zuko that wasn’t interested in Aang would probably have cut all ties with the Avatar if he had mentioned practicing kissing. Zuko knew that, he had pretended for a bit that that was the case, but how did Toph know that. They were playing a complex mind game now. And Zuko was losing.

“Hey, guys!” Both the firebender and the earthbender jumped at the charged voice. It was Sokka. “Look what I got!” he was running towards them, noticing the harsh looks on their faces, “Are you guys okay?” he asked. In his hands he had a fish the size of his head.

“Nice fish,” Zuko commented, feeling like Sokka had saved him.

“Here, Toph!” Sokka said excitedly, letting her feel the fish, “I just reached into the stream and grabbed it!”

Toph was silent.

“Isn't it huge?” Sokka asked, proud of himself. He then looked up at Zuko again, “What are you guys doing out here? It's so dark.”

“It is?” Toph asked jokingly looking around, lightening the mood. “We better get to bed.” She started walking back towards the courtyard.

Zuko watched her walk off and followed after her at a good distance, leaving Sokka to follow him, and then take the trail back to the stream where he was messing around.

Toph knowing whatever she knew had really brought Zuko down from cloud 9. He worried that she'd tell Katara, that last person he wanted to know. Thinking about Katara gave him a weird feeling. There was something he liked about how angry she was and how she looked when she was trying to get Zuko to talk or feel something. It was hot.


	19. An Average Day

A few days went by. Aang took his break, from training, from bending, from everything actually. It had almost worried Zuko when he hadn't seen the Avatar for two days. But when Aang emerged from his room, looking well rested and chipper, he couldn’t help feeling a bit relieved. They had both gotten some rest and they could get back to training if Aang was ready. Zuko was far past ready! He hadn't been interested in doing much of anything since the Avatar had stopped training with him. He hadn’t left his own room much himself. Instead he did some thinking about Aang and Katara, and even had a dream about the two of them. It wasn’t sexual, but when he had woken, it was evident he had taken it that way.

Aside from that kind of tension, Zuko still had doubts about the security of his situation, knowing it depended on Toph’s ability to keep quiet. She had already told Katara about seeing them go to Zuko’s room, but she hadn’t told her about what she heard. And Zuko took that as a good sign, maybe she wouldn’t say anything else.

Katara seemed to be in a better head space too. And although when she had talked to Aang, trying to get him to open up, and he wouldn't say much, she was glad he didn't have any new scars or burns. She had even mentioned her thoughts about Zuko and was shot down by Aang who said Zuko was great and that he was learning so much from him. “He wouldn't hurt me, Katara. He's actually helping me a lot.” He assured her. And she knew he wasn't lying. This only made her feel worse about the way she had treated Zuko. She had painted him as a villain after they had somewhat been vulnerable with each other.

And while Zuko and Katara had been worried about one another, for different reasons, Aang had a whole new problem that he hoped Zuko could fix.

They hadn’t done any training for three whole days. And after an informal and unorganized breakfast, where no one had sat together to eat, instead only passed one another coming to sit or to leave, Zuko and Aang remet in the courtyard. They hadn’t spoken yet, just stood opposite each other for a second before Zuko nodded towards Aang. The Avatar smiled, and looked like he might say something, but before he could, Katara appeared from behind the benches. She waved towards the boys but kept her eyes on Aang, not interested in the   
passive greeting he would give her.

“Feeling better?” Katara asked him, “You look refreshed.”

He nodded, “I feel a lot better!” He said.

“Great,” she said, “Work hard today,” she encouraged him, like she was his mother or something. That annoyed Zuko, but then again anything coming from Katara did that lately. She left them to their training.

The boys trained, without any awkwardness for a while. Practicing old bending and new. Although their special training had been on both of their minds, it seemed that the little break that they took had gotten them back in the mindset to bend together. It was as if they had a silent agreement that in a few short hours they’d resume where they left off with things before, so for the time being they had to focus well on fire bending. And that’s what they did. Zuko took note of how well and quickly Aang was learning, besides that stupid smaller fire in the big fire thing. Zuko had started struggling with it himself with how much he was pushing Aang. It had kind of become an inside joke for the two of them.

When they were done bending for the day, they headed to dinner, they had stopped to snack but they had skipped lunch, and were now starving. Unlike breakfast that morning, dinner included the whole gang seated and ready to eat. Things had seemingly gone back to normal. Most of them were talking about the training and how Aang felt after his break. Zuko wasn’t talking though, he wasn’t even really listening. All he really wanted to do was go to bed...with Aang.

“Hey, Aang,” Sokka said, “Come fishing with me tonight!”

Aang seemed sincere in his excitement when he said, “Alright! I haven’t been to the stream in a week!” Zuko was kind of disappointed that Aang hadn’t shown any interest in extra training. Zuko left the table and Aang and Sokka were preparing for their walk down to the stream. Before Zuko could reach his door, he heard his name called. He turned around and saw Aang walking towards him.

“Zuko,” Aang said again, and waited to be close to him before saying quietly, “Can I come to your room later tonight?”

Zuko was surprised, and kind of delighted, but he didn’t show either of those emotions. Instead he gave a short and low, “Yeah.”


	20. It's Weird

Aang made Zuko wait. It wasn’t his intention, but he had really gotten the fire bender worked up. Zuko had wondered if the Avatar had done his ‘homework’ and if he had, did it work out. He imagined the Avatar getting turned on, wondered if he made the same faces he would make with Zuko or Katara. And this made him curious about if Aang was making any progress with Katara. Had they kissed any more? Were they getting closer? Was Aang using anything he had practiced with him on Katara? Aang had given him plenty of time to explore those thoughts, fishing with Sokka must have been a blast.

When the Avatar did come knocking at Zuko’s door, letting himself in without a reply from the firebender, Zuko had started to drift off to sleep completely dressed with his lights still lit. He sat up when he heard and then saw Aang.

“Hey,” Aang said, he was smiling but there was already a blush over his cheeks.

“Hey,” Zuko replied, it came out less awkward than he imagined it would have. He was good at keeping his cool, even when he just wanted to rip someone’s clothes off apparently. He stayed sitting up on his bed, hands holding him up as he slightly leaned back.

“Sorry it’s so late,” Aang said, walking further into the room, “Sokka just kept talking and fishing, and talking about fishing.” he was still as lively as ever. “But I finally had to tell him that I had something to do.”

Zuko listened with a blank expression on his face. And when the Avatar stopped speaking, he opened his mouth, took in a breath to speak, but then sighed, rethinking his words. He then said, “How was your break?”

Aang blinked, wondering if he really wanted to go through with this. As mentioned before, he had developed a new problem that he figured Zuko would be able to fix, but he knew it wouldn’t be easy, and it was going to be super embarrassing. “Well, I definitely needed time off of the field.” he said, still not ready to get serious.

“And how was the…homework?” Zuko asked.

Aang was glad he had brought it up, He cocked his head to the side looking down at the bed, now feeling like he couldn’t look into Zuko’s eyes when he said this. He brought his hands together and held onto his own fingers, twisting them nervously. “Well, I tried a little, but it kind of didn’t work.”

It didn’t work? Zuko couldn’t even imagine what he meant by that. “What?” he asked. And when Aang continued to avoid his eyes, he knew he wasn’t going to say anything more, not with a simple ‘What?’. “Come here,” Zuko said, “Sit.” He was being uncharacteristically inviting, but Aang didn’t seem to mind. The Avatar did come closer, not sitting down before Zuko could say, “What do you mean ‘it didn’t work’?”

Aang peeked up at Zuko from the spot he had kept his gaze, and Zuko was glaring back at him. It was nerve wracking, and he started wringing his fingers even more. “I mean, it was kind of hard to, like...get hard.” After finally forcing himself to say it, he looked at Zuko again. Zuko gave him an understanding nod, not something Aang had expected, but not unwelcome. He kept quiet, leaving it up to Zuko to keep the exchange going.

“You couldn't get hard?” Zuko confirmed, he was more buying himself time to think, than actually interacting. “But you said you had felt it before—,”

“I know what I said,” Aang was frustrated not with Zuko, just with the situation and circumstances, “That was back when I didn't know about it. It was easy when I just thought about this stuff and the person I liked, but now it's...it's weird.”

Zuko was starting to get an idea of the issue. “Weird?” He repeated, half for the buying-time thing and half encouraging Aang to keep explaining. This time it worked.

Aang was still anxious, but he figured he might as well get on with it. The problem couldn't be fixed if it wasn't known. “You said it happens when you're turned on...by the person you wanna do stuff with.” He took a second to breathe and collect his thoughts, “So, I was trying to think about doing stuff with Katara, you know kissing and...then a bit of the other stuff. But it wasn't working. I just couldn't imagine her like that.”

“Okay,” Zuko responded, “Well that's okay,” He assured Aang, “Maybe you were just overthinking. You've never done that stuff with her, so it's hard to imagine. That doesn't mean you won't be able to get it up in the future.”

“Uh…no” Aang stopped Zuko, “I still—I still...did the homework.”

Zuko was just confused now, “without getting hard?”

Aang sat now, almost twisting his own fingers off. He was right next to Zuko on the bed. “No, I did get hard” His voice was quiet now and it wavered, “I just wasn't thinking about Katara…” He trailed off.

Zuko realized what he was saying, he got it, he just didn't know what Aang wanted him to do with that information. Aang didn't have to tell him that, he could have kept it to himself. He must have wanted him to know, but why. “H—how was it?” Zuko asked.

“It felt good,” Aang replied, “I don't think I'm that good at it, though. It just felt way better when you did it.” Did he have to be so frank? Zuko couldn't control the blush on his face, he looked away from Aang. “Do you think you could show me how to do it again?” he quickly added to that, “I—I know I made it weird the other day, but I won't ask you any more questions like...like I did. I just want to know what you did differently.”

This wasn't exactly how Zuko wanted things to go that night, but he knew agreeing to this would pretty much guarantee a good time. “Okay,” He replied, not sure there'd be much he could do to help Aang get better with himself, “I’m sure you just need some practice doing it for yourself, but I can show you what I do.”


	21. In the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Very Hot, Very Heavy

“Wait,” Aang stopped the firebender from leaning in any closer to him. “Should we turn the lights off?” he asked him.

“Are you gonna be able to learn without seeing?” Zuko asked. Did he want the lights on? It hadn't been a problem the other day.

Aang thought about it. “It’s just easier in the dark.” 

Easier to pretend, Zuko thought. Aang just wanted to pretend that Zuko was Katara, or he wanted to imagine Katara so he could associate the feelings and intensity with her in his head. “Fine,” Zuko said, “go hit the light.”

Aang couldn't sense the annoyance in his voice, well, he sensed something, but just waved it off as Zuko being Zuko, and went to get the light. It became pitch black in the room. Aang took comfort in the fact that Zuko couldn't see him, his nerves were less of an issue. He walked back over and joined Zuko on the bed again. He put his hand out and felt Zuko, felt his hand and he felt up his arm where he gripped his shoulder and pulled him towards him to have their lips meet again.

Zuko noticed the switch in Aang once the lights had gone off. He seemed to take more of an initiative. He didn't put it together then, and had he, he probably would have delighted in the fact that Aang wanted the lights off not to pretend that Zuko was Katara, but to pretend that he himself was whoever Zuko wanted him to be. This was probably the point where there was no denying it, Aang and Zuko weren't just practicing anymore. Now that Aang realized he was into it, it was obvious they were both in it for more than teaching and learning. 

And in the dark that night, it was perfectly fine that they were kissing for the pleasure of kissing and holding each other just to feel one another in their hands and against one another's bodies.

If it wasn't obvious to themselves that they both possessed unspeakable and complex motives, it was evident in the way they simply kissed for over fifteen minutes. Neither one even tempted yet to move further. Zuko was holding the Avatar like his own, hands firmly grasping the smaller waist. And Aang had maintained his hold on Zuko's shoulder, squeezing his grip at any deepening of the kiss. His other hand had ventured up Zuko's chest and neck and found itself caressing his jaw, thumb grazing over the fire benders cheek.

Aang surprised Zuko and himself when he made a move forward, twisting himself towards Zuko and his embrace. He slid his arms up around Zuko's neck and brought his knees up to bring himself to Zuko's height on the bed. Zuko made the next move, pulling Aang's leg over himself and placing him in a straddle. He loved the feeling of Aang in his lap, right there, ready to mess around and play with. He slid his hands down the Avatar's waist and up under his top, pulling it up and unwrapping it. Aang let him do it and once he was free of his top he continued to deepen their kiss.

They could both feel how hard the other was and they ignored it for a little bit, seemingly working hard to capture each other’s tongue while also lacing themselves together.

Although Aang had been the pushing force up to this point, he pulled away, breathing heavily as he felt his heart beat in his chest, so fast, so hard. It was impossible, he thought. “Hot,” he muttered, taking his pants off. He was left in his underwear. Zuko heard the bustle of Aang's pants coming down and joined in, pulling his top and pants off after untying the robes.

“Very hot,” Zuko agreed, but he wasn’t talking about the temperature.

They kissed some more, their bodies feeling on fire when they connected. Aang, again pushing forward, climbed back on top of Zuko pulling his chest flat against his own. This was when Zuko finally acknowledged their underwear, pulling both his own and Aang's down to reveal their hottest, most vulnerable and sensitive parts.

“Oh,” Aang cried quietly, arching his back, feeling his underwear slide down and free him from the tension. The way he had moved had created enough space for Zuko’s hand to lightly graze him. He jumped at the feeling.

Zuko held Aang up pressing the smaller boy's erection against his own. Without a thought, he reached down and wrapped his hand around both of them and started rubbing them up and down like he had done before. Aang arched forward, his head buried in Zuko’s neck, he sighed and then moaned at the feeling of Zuko’s hand holding them together so tightly.

“How’s it feel?” Zuko asked him.

Aang hesitated, catching his breath, finding the words, working to gain his voice, “I’m melting.” Aang said, “it’s scary.”

Scary? That’s not how Zuko would describe it, “you feel so good.” He told the Avatar, “does it feel good?” He was right in Aang's ear.

“Your hand…” Aang whispered, thrusting into it on his own now, “--feels amazing.” He moaned a bit at the end, losing himself. “Zuko, it's about to happen,” Aang said, his voice high and strained, now.

“I’m cumming,” Zuko blurred out in response, not hearing the Avatar’s first warning.

“Me too,” Aang agreed, and as Zuko tightened his grip even more, Aang bit down into the firebender's shoulder, not hard, but enough for him to feel and shiver in response to.

“Shit,” Zuko whispered, feeling the hot mess falling down his fingers and wrist. As he opened his eyes to look, knowing he wouldn’t be able to see much, he was surprised to see his room all aglow. “Shit!” He repeated with an urgency now. Aang opened his eyes, recovering from his climax, and found himself able to see Zuko who quickly pushed him off and moved his hands around to extinguish the sizable fire that he had started in the center of his room and had reached the very end of the bed.


	22. Leaving it There

“Is everything okay?” Aang questioned, voice spent. He was still sitting up but his shoulders were hunched and he was winded.

“No damage,” Zuko replied, feeling the air around him, reminding him that he was close to naked, in the dark, with the Avatar. “Are you okay?” Zuko asked.

“I’m great,” Aang said, “I think you got me on the back, but a little ice and it should be fine.”

“I burned you?” Zuko asked. He hadn’t even considered that he could have burned Aang. He went for the lights and as the room lit up, there was a lot to take in of the view. Aang was still in his underwear, sitting up on his knees. His back was to Zuko, and the fire bender was taken aback by the burns he saw. “Aang, a little ice is not gonna fix that!” He had burned his fingerprints into Aang's lower back. It was right in the spot he had held the Avatar as they were cumming.

“It’s okay,” Aang said, feeling for the wounds. He then turned to look at Zuko, “it doesn’t really hurt.”

If taken aback was what the burns on Aang's back had done to Zuko, what he saw when Aang looked his way had thrown him into the wall.

“What’s wrong?” Aang asked, feeling his face and then following Zuko’s eyes with his hand to his neck, “oh, wow.” Aang said.

Zuko walked back towards Aang, forgetting, no, ignoring the fact that he was so exposed. He put his hand up to touch the reddening spot right below Aang’s ear and towards his jaw line. “I burned your neck.”

Aang had a smile on his face, like he was going to laugh. “Zuko, it’s fine, it doesn’t even hurt.”

“How doesn’t it hurt?” Zuko questioned.

“It’s small, I didn’t even notice it,” Aang assured him, “it’s really fine.”

Zuko knew he was fine. He wasn’t worried about Aang anymore. He was more worried about the reality of their situation sinking in deeper and deeper, every second longer that the light was on. He wasn’t just teaching the Avatar, and he wasn’t hurting Aang to get at Katara, he had actual, real, and intense feelings for him. He couldn’t accept that, not right then. He wanted to put this problem in the dark again, hide it away. So after a second, he had located the towel he needed, hit the light and returned to the bed with the towel in his hand. He wiped his own hands and torso and then handed the towel to Aang. Aang cleaned himself up and waited for Zuko to guide him into the next act.

Aang wasn’t as upset about what happened, he knew it wasn’t just practice, but he also knew it had felt really good. He had heard of two guys being in a relationship before, not that he was into that, but he could accept his feelings for Zuko...or for what he was doing with Zuko. Even if it wasn’t something serious, he didn’t believe that something that felt so good could be that wrong

“I...I’m gonna go clean off.” Zuko said, deciding only seconds before saying so. He pulled on his clothes and stood up.

Aang hesitated before saying, “I...I’ll come to, I’ll get some ice from the stream.”

Zuko didn’t argue, Aang had a good reason to follow. 

At the stream, Aang and Zuko stayed away from each other, focusing on their own reasons for being there. The moonlight shone brightly over them. 

When Zuko was done, he left the Avatar on his own, going back to his room and eventually to bed.

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“Good Morning,” Zuko heard an excited greeting from Aang, it was directed to Katara and it was paired with a big grin. The two of them were at the dining table, just sitting down to eat.

“Good Morning, Aang,” She said, “How are—, Aang!” she yelled, “W—What happened to you?”

“What?” Aang questioned, pretending he hadn’t noticed, “Oh, it’s nothing. I did something stupid yesterday...Actually, do you think you could heal it?” he felt at the spot, it had darkened since the night before.

Zuko approached the table, close enough now for Aang and Katara to notice him. “Good Morning,” He said with much less enthusiasm as the others had. He debated whether to say anything at first, but when they looked at him, he felt the need to greet them.

“Good morning,” Aang replied.

“Morning,” Katara said and then looked back at Aang, “How did you get that burn Aang?” She questioned, glad Zuko was there to hear her ask. She could see his reaction as well.

“It was an accident,” he said, “No big deal.”

“You’ve been awfully clumsy lately,” Katara commented, looking towards Zuko.

Zuko held his blank expression, while Katara’s face said all that she was thinking. He could tell she credited this injury to him. She felt there was no denying it anymore, Zuko was hurting Aang, and Aang was letting him get away with it. She wondered if Zuko was holding something over Aang’s head, blackmailing him into secrecy, but she had done enough accusing and questioning and she was now going to have to do her own silent investigating. And if that meant snooping, she wasn’t above it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Zuko's inability to control his fire a little overboard? I know it's kind of not how bending works, but I like to imagine Zuko’s feeling better than he ever has before and it’s triggering his fire. Not necessarily his bending, but just the creation of fire.
> 
> Please let me know your thoughts in the comments! Thanks!


	23. Cooling Off

Aang and Zuko didn’t have any issues training. If anything, maybe their practice was helping them clear their head, when it cleared their physical desires, for a good amount of time. Zuko was still noticing different things about the Avatar that made his face heat up. Aang thought about those few nights him and Zuko had shared, but not as much as Zuko. He didn’t worry as much as Zuko either. He trained.

Katara showed up midway through their training, and was surprised to find them training well. There wasn’t much she would be able to discover from it. She stayed anyway and soon Toph joined her and they chatted about the weather while inconspicuously observing the boys. The training went on for a while.

“Are we going to the festival tomorrow?” Aang asked everyone present. Him and Zuko paused between moves.

“I want to go, I heard Aunt Wu will be in town,” Toph replied.

“Aunt Wu?” Katara questioned almost too excitedly. Aunt Wu was a fortune teller, if there was anyone that could help Katara with the secrets going around, it was Aunt Wu. Of course it wasn’t guaranteed that she had any insight about the gang, but it wouldn’t hurt to check into it, especially when she had no other live leads.

“Who’s Aunt Wu?” Zuko asked.

“She’s a fortune teller from Makapu Village,” Aang told him. Zuko had a vague memory of Makapu Village and of Aunt Wu. He had only been there in search of the Avatar a while back. He had little interest in having his fortune told, he didn’t believe in it anyway. “Are you gonna go?” Aang asked.

He wasn’t opposed to the festival overall, “I guess—,”

“Yeah,” Katara said, responding to Aang. Zuko hadn’t realized Aang was asking Katara and not him. Katara wasn’t so sure who Aang had directed the question to either, not after hearing Zuko respond.

“Great!” Aang cheered, “We can all go together!” He quickly overlooked the mistake. Katara and Zuko looked at eachother. Katara wasn’t aware of this competition she was in with Zuko, and in reality, Zuko wasn’t all that well aware of it either. But when they made eye contact, they both read the malice in the other’s face.

The tension in this triangle was at a high. Aang was playing content very well, maybe he wasn’t playing. Zuko had his feelings all twisted up but they were pointing in Aang’s direction as of late. And Katara was conflicted with her suspicion, it overpowered her love for Aang, and even maybe her loathing of Zuko. Not to mention her resentment of her own actions, those of which she regretted for the reason that she did miss Zuko, and crave the nights she had spent with him.

They completed their training for the day and Katara and Toph walked off going their separate ways. Aang and Zuko nodded goodbyes and left to go to their rooms.

While the night before had remained on his mind, Zuko couldn’t help but force himself to push the thoughts away. Things had gotten too intense, and for training to go as well as it did and for them to go right back to normal, it was good...right? He wanted to believe it was good. But what he knew now was that it was going to be harder to maintain any type of boundaries if the lights were off. So...it was good then?

No boundaries meant there weren't any regulations, no control, and evidently, according to the small burns in his sheets and on the Avatar, he needed to have some control.

He wasn’t planning on approaching Aang any time soon, he needed a cooling-off period, a bit of time to organize his thoughts and plans. And this seemed not to be a problem when Aang didn’t even look his way at dinner. Zuko had looked over and noticed that the burning on Aang’s neck had been healed up, so he had spent time with Katara. And even if he knew a pause on practice was needed, he didn’t enjoy the idea that the less time Aang spent with Zuko, the more time he had to potentially spend with Katara. He didn’t like that. Katara had healed him before, he knew what it entailed, close contact, comfortable, relaxing even, silence, and Katara’s alluring scent. Of course Aang and Katara were going to be together, sooner or later. Zuko just hoped it’d be later, much, much later.  


..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~.._..~*~..

The normal day ended smoothly, Zuko had no nightly visitors, and he listened carefully, not hearing anyone leave their rooms after they had said their goodnights.

The next morning wasn’t so bad. Zuko woke up, having dreamed he was floating on a cloud, Aang had told him that he tried it once, it was wet, and not even a little soft, but in his dream it was soft, and fluffy and so warm. He had turned over and felt the fluff with his fingers, only to realize he wasn’t on a cloud, but on Appa’s back. He hadn’t ever felt too fond of the flying bison, but in his dream, Appa made him feel safe. Zuko held onto that feeling as he got out of bed.

“Good Morning,” Toph greeted him, she had just come out of her room. “It’s late,” she said.

She was right. Everyone else was already at breakfast, chatting merrily. “Toph, Zuko!” Aang cheered, “We were wondering when you two would get up. We were just talking about the festival later.”

“There’s going to be fireworks,” Sokka announced, reading off of the paper he had in his hand, “And an earthbending street performer.”

“And Aunt Wu will be there,” Aang reminded them, “It’s going to be great.”

Toph nodded, while Zuko just sat quietly.

“Whoa, Zuko, curb your enthusiasm, would you?” Suki joked.

“Leave him alone,” Toph said, “I’m sure he’s jumping for joy inside.” Zuko hadn’t appreciated the attention. He simply ignored them and started eating.

“I wonder if they’ll have those fried seaweed things,” Sokka wondered out loud.

“Ooo,” Toph said, “I hope so.”

The gang continued their talk about the festival and about festival food. And after breakfast, Zuko and Aang did a little training, and that’s all. They didn’t speak of anything other than training. While he knew it was what he needed, Zuko was far from satisfied with the interaction. He wanted some kind of inclination that said Aang wanted him as badly as he wanted Aang.

After training, and lunch, the gang headed to the festival. It was just as they had imagined, loud and bright and full of life. There were more people there than the amount of people living in town, people must have traveled from all around to go there. Aang and Katara seemed attached, not excessively, but they were going to be hanging together for the night, Zuko had concluded. Suki and Sokka were, of course, a pairing. And Toph seemed to be trailing Katara and Aang. All seemed to be enthused about the festival, except for Zuko, who hid his dismay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, it's a dry one, but there's more and better to come.


End file.
